Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports
by J. Maria
Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  Part Three of the Resurrected 'verse.
1. Team Tact

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Team Tact  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Spoilers: Series for Angel & Buffy; au!season 4 for SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Castiel and Cordelia discuss the 66 seals.  
A/N: So. This is the Resurrected verse. Cordelia and Castiel are running around behind the scenes (with the exception to the whole Hank/Joyce bits) pulling the strings. Because I find the idea of Cas/Cordy extremely loveable and squishy. Anybody else?

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Team Tact

Cordelia Chase was being kicked out of Heaven. Finally. Playing with a corkscrew curl she stared at the glowing figure before her, waiting patiently for him to take shape. He looked like an accountant.

"This is simply the vessel I was able to inhabit," the rather cute angel frowned at her, holding onto the lapels of his trench coat in confusion.

"I caught that," Cordelia huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You crazy boys and your fun with meat-puppets."

"I am an angel of the Lord -"

"Yeah, _seer_, so I already knew that," Cordelia made a hand motion for him to continue.

"The 66 seals -"

"Yeah, are already starting to slip into place, and you need the key players out of lock-up."

"That is correct," Castiel answered.

"And because the PtB screwed me over _so_ well, they decided I could come with," Cordelia finished, examining the nails on her right hand.

"Once again, that is correct."

"So, are we gonna go make sure they don't die, or are you basically going to just agree with me all day? Not that I'm minding the agreeing. I do miss being treated like the queen I am."

"It's time."

"This is just gonna be a thrill a minute, isn't it?" Cordelia sighed as Castiel transported them just outside a seedy little hotel in the middle of nowhere. "So we're starting with this one, huh? Fan-fricken-tastic."


	2. Kicked Puppy and Little B

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Kicked Puppy and Little B  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: I've been where you were, and I'm gonna help you through it.  
Characters: Dawn Summers, Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer; mentioned: Buffy Summers/Graham Miller.  
Words: 649  
A/N: How Dawn met Sam. Post Dean's death.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Kicked Puppy and Little B

Dawn Summers kicked at the dirt walkway, pacing across the front of the stairs of Bobby Singer's house. He'd called up Graham for a consult, and since he was currently busy putting the moves on her older sister, Graham had asked her to take the info to Bobby. Which she didn't mind in the least. Faith had gone to Cleveland last week to check up on Rona and Kennedy, Vi was at the Council HQ in London, Connor was doing whatever crazy shit he could pull to annoy Angel and Spike this week, Kit was back in L.A. visiting her folks, and Carlos was busy re-taking his Watcher's exam. So she was definitely at loose ends. That was why she'd hopped a plane and caught a cab to Bobby's place in South Dakota.

She sighed. Normally Bobby visits were fun. Granted, she'd only _really_ visited him twice before, but still, those long phone calls to discuss demon research counted for something. He was so much like Giles had been for Buffy when they'd first arrived in Sunnydale. But three days of not hearing from Bobby when they were supposed to be meeting up was odd. Bobby didn't _bail_ on her. Bobby didn't _bail_ on anyone, period. Something bad had happened.

Which made her twitchy. Never a good thing.

She'd swung back around for the third time when two cars roared into the drive. Dawn let out the breath she'd been holding, not even realizing that she'd been doing that, when she saw a grim-faced Bobby pile out first. She raced to him, throwing her arms around the older man.

"What the hell happened? I've been freaking out for _hours_, Bobby!" Dawn muttered.

"Not a good day, princess," Bobby sighed. "We lost one of our own today."

"We're getting him back, Bobby!" a new, male voice snapped, cutting off Dawn's reply.

"You're not making a deal to get him back, Sam," Bobby said tiredly, as if he'd had this conversation with the tall brunet a thousand and one times. "Don't be an idgit."

"He's my _brother_ -"

"Is this the kid the information was for?" Dawn gasped, looking between the two hunters.

"Information?" Bobby and Sam both whipped around to face her.

"Yeah, on demon contracts?" Dawn asked. When they continued to stare at her as if she'd grown three heads, she shrugged, "I know someone whose dad used to work for an evil law firm."

"It's too late to get him out of his deal with Lilith," Sam spat, a sheen of angry tears in his eyes.

Without another word, Sam reeled back and stomped over to the hot looking muscle car in the drive. Dawn gave herself one minute to appreciate the kick-ass car - once again, a sign that she spent _way too_ much time with Faith and Carlos - before she was signaling to Bobby stop following him.

"His brother died?"

"Damned hellhound and Lilith," Bobby sighed, looking worn to the bone.

"I got this, Bobby. You talk to Graham before me, tell him I found my summer project," Dawn grinned at him.

"Dawnie, what are you -"

"Seeya, Bobby!" Dawn snatched her duffle off the steps and raced to jerk the passenger door of the Chevy Impala open. "Hi! I'm Dawn Summers, and I'll be your co-pilot while we do whatever it is you do."

"What?"

"You need a co-pilot and I need something to do, so hurry up and drive off before Bobby realizes what we're doing," she pasted the brittle smile on her face. He was hurting, and she had _so_ been there when she'd lost Buffy. Right now, he needed weird-girl to focus on, and later, she'd get around to kicking his ass for snapping at her Bobby. Maybe when the wound wasn't still so fresh. "Any day now, Sam."

And somehow, she managed to convince him to put his brother's car into drive.


	3. Why Sam Never Drove

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Why Sam Never Drove  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Whedon owns BtVS, Kripke owns SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: A phone call that can scare years off your life  
Words: 459  
A/N: A different grouping was supposed to be here...until real life jumped in and got all inspire-y. My older sister got into a pretty ugly car accident three blocks from my house on the way to come pick me up. When I got the call I literally ran the three blocks to get to her. And me + running = not pretty. She's fine, more damage to the car than to her, but it took years off my life. Which made me think about Buffy&Dawn/Dean&Sam. Because my mind revolves around fandom.  
The only good thing that came out of last night was the fact that I got to watch Miami Medical, and the guy who played Graham was on as Chris's older brother Rick.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Why Sam Never Drove

Buffy felt the phone slip through her fingers. This could not be happening. Graham reached around her and finished the conversation, his hand idly rubbing at her back. Her hands were shaking like crazy and the whine of the siren in the distance was pissing her off.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she heard Graham say into the phone. "Buffy...Buffy, I need you to calm down. Go inside."

"What happened?" Tears pooled in her eyes, running over the rim and down her cheeks. "What happened to my Dawnie?"

"Buffy, she's _fine_. I'm going to go get her and bring her right back to you. I promise."

"I should have never let her go with him - that stupid boy!"

"Buffy. Go inside. Xander and Samantha need to know what's going on. Okay? Can you do that for me?" Graham was using his calming voice, and silly Buffy was falling for it. She nodded and watched as he ran over to his Jeep.

Buffy walked numbly to the porch where Xander was leading Samantha Finn down the steps. She was a few months pregnant and Xander was treating her like a piece of glass. She was carrying the first Scooby baby, after all. Which made Buffy blubber even more.

"Where's Graham? What happened, Buffster?" Xander asked, his eye poring over her face.

"There - there was an accident," Buffy's bottom lip quivered. "Dawnie..."

"What about Dawnie? What happened?" Xander's eye got wide with panic. Samantha laid a hand gently on his shoulder, her other hand going to her stomach.

"She -"

"She's driving," Samantha cut her off, nodding down the street at the mini procession of Graham's Jeep and the black Impala. Sure enough, Dawn was turning a slightly dented Impala into the long drive, her face flushed.

Buffy ran to the car, yanking the door open and leaving it hanging brokenly against the ground. Dawn gaped at her sister as Buffy jerked her out of the car. She crushed her sister to her.

"Don't you _EVER_ scare me like that again Dawn Marie Summers!"

"Ow, Buffy, I need to breathe!" Dawn protested.

"What were you _thinking?"_ Buffy shook her a little.

"That I was never letting Sam drive again while I change in the backseat," Dawn shook her head, a bruise springing to life on her neck from the seatbelt.

_"You_ did this to my baby sister?" Buffy whirled on the much taller Winchester boy.

"I - a deer popped up out of nowhere!" Sam choked out, feeling cornered as Graham placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It really did, Buffy. Besides, I now have driving priveleges of the Impala for the next three months...as long as we get Graham to fix it up while we're here."


	4. Get Out of Her Face

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Get Out of Her Face  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Honor's lost to Ruby.  
Words: 745  
A/N: Because blonde!Ruby was ten times cooler than brunette!Ruby. She was just a whiny bitch. I don't like my characters to just randomly change their faces. And the dislike is not just because Jared married her in real life...honestly.  
Also, I don't know if I mentioned it, but the timeline of all of these vingettes are all over the place. They all take place in the 'Resurrected verse, but with no defined order.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Get Out of Her Face

It had taken Dawn nearly two weeks of pestering to get the whole story out of Sam. In the end, it was a picture on her cell phone that had him breaking down and telling her the whole convoluted tale of his death at Jake's hands, the Colt and Yellow Eyes, Dean's bargain, Ruby's lies, Bela's betrayls, and Lilith's siccing the Hell Hounds on Dean. A picture of a pretty blonde girl with her arm around Dawn's shoulder.

"You know _her_?" Sam snapped angrily.

"How do you know her?" Dawn blinked at Sam in confusion.

"That's _Ruby_."

"What?" Dawn's voice when deep and heavy with emotion. If her sister or any of the Scoobies had been around, they would have realized that it was the same tone of voice she'd taken when she'd wished them all trapped inside the Summers house years ago.

"How the hell do you know Ruby?" Unfortunately for Sam, he had never been at that party.

"I don't know Ruby. This girl was my slayer. Her name was Honor Standish. She went missing over a _year ago_. I had no idea what happened to her until you just told me what Ruby and Lilith did to her."

She'd left the hotel room then, marching away from him, cell phone pressed to her ear. She was busy making arrangements for the Council to pick up of Honor's body. Dawn didn't even notice the blonde woman come up to the door of their hotel room.

"Can I help you?" Sam frowned down at the curvy blonde. He jumped back a little when her eyes turned completely black. "Son of a -"

"Is that any way to greet an old friend you got ganked, Sammy?" said the woman Ruby was wearing this week.

"Ruby. I just _knew_ you wouldn't stay dead," Sam spat at her as she pushed herself into the room.

"That's the thanks I get after all the trouble I went through to get you and Dean into Lilith's playground? Even though I told you it was a suicide mission because _you_ wouldn't listen to me sooner?"

"Who are you wearing this week, Ruby?" Sam quickly shifted gears. "Pick up another young _slayer_ so you can appear to be more powerful than the average demon?"

"Slayer?" Ruby blinked. Sam wasn't supposed to know about her last host being a slayer. "I don't know what that is. Maybe she was a novice hunter like you -"

"Whoever she is, get the fuck out of her," Sam spat, crowding her out. "Let that innocent woman go, because there is no way in hell I'll let you kill another innocent person."

"But I like this body -" Ruby gave him a sexy pout. That always seemed to work before. Sam pushed her back against the wall, her demon-killing knife pressed against her neck. "That'll just kill the human too!"

"Not if I stab her in the leg," Sam countered, not really sure if that would actually work.

"You are such an ass!" She threw her head back and screamed to the heavens, black smoke shooting out of the woman's mouth.

Sam quickly steered her out into the hallway. She blinked up at him a few times, shook her head and tottered away from him drunkenly. Dawn stared at him from the end of the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Dawn asked.

"Ruby. In a new human host."

"And you let her go?" Anger coursed through her veins.

"No. I kicked her out of that woman's body and got her the hell out of our room," Sam sighed. "She knew Honor was a slayer. That's why she chose her."

"We hadn't got the anti-possession amulet to her yet," Dawn nodded, her anger still throbbing in her veins. "She'd only been on active rotation for three weeks. We thought she'd just had enough of it all and bailed."

"It's not your fault, Dawn. Its _Ruby's_ and I'm going to make her and Lilith pay."

"Ruby's mine. And if that bitch comes around me, she's not walking away."

A few miles down the road at the local hospital, a pretty brunette was just being declared legally dead. Black smoke slammed into her open throat as the doctors around her stared in awe. She jolted upright, gasping for breath.

"Damn, I'm starving," Ruby-in-her-new-body hissed. She smiled prettily at the two men. "Can you sign that so I can get on my way? I'm kinda on a tight schedule."


	5. Smack Down

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Smack Down  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Dawn has a heart to heart with Ruby.  
Words: 763  
A/N: Time-lines are a little fluid here. This happens directly after the accident, which happens after the Honor debacle. I also can't remember if they ever said what Ruby's second host's name was...so I'm making it up.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Smack Down

It took Ruby three weeks to track down Sam after the whole 'stab-you-in-the-leg' thing. She was on a tight schedule. She needed to get Sam whipped into the Dark side of his powers.

So when she finally did track his ass down, it was at a little farmhouse outside of Cleveland. Sam was just behind the house, working on that damn car of his brother's.

"You are a damn hard man to find, Sammy," Ruby squinted in the sunlight at him. Sam jerked upright at the sound of the strange voice. Only two people called him Sammy.

"Ruby," Sam turned to face a pretty brunette wearing a plaid button down shirt and faded jeans. "You picked a helluva time to track me down."

"Good to see you too, Sam. Like the new outfit?"

"Where'd you find her?" Sam's jaw clenched.

"Found her barely in the morgue. Brain dead and they were pulling the plug," Sam hook his head. "I've got the papers if you don't believe me. Mary Sue blah, blah, blah died at 12:10 a.m., I took her over at 12:11."

She flapped the papers at him. She was half-way through the down stroke when a hand clamped on her wrist. Ruby's head jerked to the side as willowy brunette jerked her hand still, scanning the paper - which included a photo id. Her blue eyes narrowed as she studied Ruby.

"So you're the reason Sammy wouldn't come and play with me," Ruby smirked at her. No matter what her appeal, Ruby could match it. All she had to do was hold the carrot of getting back at Lilith over Sammy's head. "Not that I think thats going to be a problem for me much longer."

"So you're _Ruby_," the woman countered.

"Aw, Sammy tell you about me?"

"Just a few things," she shrugged. "Like how you hijacked Honor's body and got her killed."

The smirk slipped from her lips. Sammy hadn't even known the slayer's name. He'd only known that she'd inhabited a slayer's body. Which meant...

"Don't worry, Ruby-sweet, I'm not a slayer," a confident smirk crossed the womans lips. Ruby relaxed a little. "And me and Sam? Like siblings."

That statement, that reassurance should have tipped Ruby off that she was up to no good. But Ruby was being sloppy. Happened when you took over the very-nearly dead a second before they died.

"I'm Dawn. I was Honor's Watcher." Ruby's breath hitched again. "Emily Jameson really did die at 12:10, Sam."

"Good," Sam crossed his arms, his eyes going stony.

"See, Ruby, if Emily here really _hadn't_ died before you took her over, I might feel really bad about doing this," Dawn smiled brightly at her.

Ruby flinched as she felt a dagger bury itself into her gut. Fear widened her eyes as she glanced down at the blade's handle. She scanned it frantically for the familiar design of her demon-slaying blade. She'd stolen that from a slayer too, once upon a time. Just after she'd slit said slayers throat with it. Ruby fell to her knees.

"That was just a warning," Dawn leaned over her. "Sam won't let me touch the Non-Life Knife. He's afraid I might lose it."

"You've lost three daggers already," Sam muttered.

"And you broke the car, you don't see me carrying on about _that_."

"What -" Ruby croaked.

"It won't kill Emily. She's already dead," Dawn shrugged. "The wound's not that deep, hell-ho. And I aimed for non-life threatening bits."

"What -"

"Honor deserved better than you trapping her in her own mind, you bitch," Anger coursed through her. "Next time I see you - in this face or any other, I will end you. Even if I have to climb Mount St. Sammy to get the knife out of his ginormous hand."

"Gee, Dawn, you make me feel so loved," Sam pulled her back gently.

"You might want to pick your skanky-ass out of the dirt, demon," Dawn hissed at her, leaning forward over Sam's arm that had wrapped around her waist. "Not the brightest move you made, coming here today. Today this place is Slayer central, and they all know you got Honor killed."

"I'd be gone by sundown if I were you, _Ruby_," Sam pulled Dawn farther back from Ruby's gasping form. "They won't bother with a warning when they see you. Especially not with that picture message Dawn sent a few minutes ago."

Sam pulled Dawn into the house, slamming the front door shut behind them. Ruby groaned as she fell further into the dirt. She was so fucked.


	6. Dean's Regret

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Deans Regret  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Sam has to tell someone that Dean is gone, only he cant do it alone.  
Words: 1207  
A/N: Set post-season three, pre-au!season four. My revenge on Kripke for making me get drunk the night of season 5's finale. And I _never_ get drunk. Seriously had a Slushie Cosmo the size of my head. And a headache to match the next morning.  
Also? She's the _only_ reoccurring female in the entirety of the series that I adamantly disliked (pre season six). Except for brunette!Ruby. She's above bruRu on the dislike scale.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Dean's Regret

"We have to make a stop here," Sam licked his lips, his hands clutching at the wheel.

"I figured that out when you pulled over fifteen minutes ago and preceded to be all stalker-like with your staring," Dawn punched his shoulder.

"Brat," Sam shook his head at her antics.

"Gigantor," Dawn teased back. When he didn't say anything back, she poked him again. "So, who's the chick gardening over there?"

"Lisa."

"She an ex of yours?"

"Dean's," When Dawn only looked at him with her 'And?' face, Sam rolled his eyes. "He checked in on her every once in a while. She -"

"Doesn't know he was living on borrowed time?" Dawn pressed.

"No. And I have to tell her that he's..." Sam choked up, remembering holding his brother's lifeless body in his arms.

"No, you don't."

Dawn was out of the Impala before he could even process what she was doing. Dawn had adopted him as her baby brother despite the fact that he was older than her, and she was taking charge of his life and interactions - from everyone starting with Bobby and ending with Ruby. This was one of the few times he actually appreciated it. Jo and Ellen had been the hardest of his friends to break the news to about Dean. Lisa had cared about Dean - kinda. He couldn't deal with someone else's grief on top of his own just right now.

Dawn was up the rolling green lawn and nearly on top of the woman before she even looked up from her tulip bed. She was pretty, and Dawn could only imagine the tears that would come with the news. Which was never good, because then _she_ would get all sympathy tears with the chick. She hadn't _known_ Dean like that to warrant getting all weepy over him. She'd never met the man, after all.

"Can I help you?" Lisa - no last name because Sam hadn't told it to her - frowned up at him.

"Hi, I'm a friend of the Winchester brothers, Sam's over in the car," Dawn cleared her throat and gestured behind her.

"And Dean?" Her eyes got wide and a little bit wary. Weird reaction, but Dawn shrugged it off. Assuming she knew Sam's antics fairly well, Dawn could only hazard a guess that a monster hunt had been the reason for Lisa and Dean's last interaction.

"I have some bad news," Dawn took a deep breath. "Dean died last month."

"Died?" A bit of her tension seemed to evaporate. Once again, weird ass reaction. "How?"

"I wasn't there. All I know is that he knew he was going to die, and that there was very little pain in the end. He was thinking of you -"

Lisa stiffened at this, cutting Dawn off in the middle of her bereavement training speech. Lisa _was not_ comforted by this idea of Dean thinking of her. Dawn might not have known Dean personally, but she was a little pissed for him. And then she spotted the little boy. Lisa swallowed and called out to her son.

"Ben, go inside and get cleaned up for dinner, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Ben gave Dawn a glare that reminded her of someone and headed into the house. Her jaw dropped a bit when it hit her.

"That's his _son_," Dawn whispered.

"No! No, it is _not_!" But the panicked look in Lisa's eyes screamed 'yes!' so loudly.

"You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Look, I hadn't seen him in _years_, and then he shows up at my kid's birthday party!" Lisa hissed. "And then he brings all of his crazy shit life down on me and demanded to know if Ben was _his_. He didn't give a shit for years!"

"You selfish bitch!" Dawn was pissed now. "I'm not saying he was a poster child for good life choices, but damn! His _showing up out of the blue_ should have been a big fucking clue that something nasty was going on in his life."

"You didn't know the Dean I knew," Lisa shook her head, an ugly look crossing her face. "He was looking for a quick fuck."

"And instead he found his _son_, and you didn't even tell him, did you?" Dawn's fist tightened. The reaction was one she'd learned from way too much time spent in Connor and Faith's anger management classes. "You know, you're right. Hell, I never even met the guy, so how do I know what kind of man he was. I just tool around in his car, watching his brother and every other person I met who knew him break down."

"That -"

"Save it, sweet-heart. I lied when I said it was quick. I lied when I said it was painless. The guy was ripped to shreds by angry Hell-Hounds. He bled out fast, sure, but he was played with like a chew toy," Dawn said quietly. Lisa's face blanched at the thought. "And he died willingly, in that excruciating way because he made a deal to save his brother's life. So you're right when you say I didn't know Dean Winchester when he was alive. I knew him after the fact. But you didn't know him at all either. Because he would have _died_ to keep you and his son safe, because family came first with him. So no, I can't understand why you would kick someone like that out of your life."

Dawn spun to leave, anger throbbing through her. She wasn't supposed to be having this reaction to a 'sorry-he's-dead' announcement. She was really glad she hadn't let Sam break the news to Lisa. Dawn felt a hand grab onto her wrist, and she spun back around to tear into the bitch.

"Dean's dead?" Ben's eyes filled with tears.

"Yeah," the anger left her just like that.

"He saved me once, and taught me how to kick a bully in the nads," Ben sniffled.

"He was a pretty awesome guy," Dawn blinked back tears. Her heart broke for this little boy who would never really know his father because of his mother. "You remember what he taught you, okay, Ben? Family should always come first, and I know he thought of you as family."

Ben nodded and raced back into the house, leaving his mother gaping at her brokenly. Dawn straightened her spine.

"I have to tell Sam."

"What? No, you can't! He'll take my son away!" Lisa gasped.

"Sam's not evil that way. He just lost his whole world," Dawn shook her head at the woman's stupidity. "Do you think he'd put that little boy through the same thing by ripping him away from his mother? You really didn't know either of them, did you?"

Dawn hurried down the hill, still shaking her head. Sam was frowning at her as she yanked the passenger side door open and dropped into the seat.

"What the hell happened out there?"

"I swear to God, I'll tell you Sam, but not right this second. We need to get a room for the night."

"I thought we were driving on through the night?" Sam's frown deepened as he pulled away from the curb.

"Trust me when I say you're gonna want to stay in town for a few more days."


	7. The Next Generation

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: The Next Generation  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Samantha's had enough.  
Words: 417  
A/N: Dark. Y'all have been warned. And features Riley, mainly because I just saw him in _Animals_. Also, timelines are all wonky here, mainly because this is set six months prior to Dawn meeting Sam Winchester. Also making up Samantha's name.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
The Next Generation

Samantha Finn's hands shook as she waited for the minutes to pass. She wasn't sure if she could take it if the answer was yes. She knew she would lose it if it said no. Either way, this was her last hunt. She was out. Samantha Cordre-Finn had been hunting since 2001. She'd been hunting with Riley since then.

Things had been tense after the visit to Sunnydale. Sam realized she was the replacement for Buffy Summers, she wasn't stupid. She knew that she was everything Buffy was, and everything she wasn't.

She was a warrior - but she wasn't as strong as him. She'd needed him when Buffy could go it alone on occasion. Sam shared, Buffy held back. She was brunette, Buffy was blonde. She was carrying his child. Buffy would never.

They'd just celebrated their third anniversary when Sam had found out she was pregnant. He'd insisted she stay at the HQ while the boys went out on missions. She'd been six months along when a group of rogue demons had attacked the mission control station.

Riley, Graham and the others had gotten back too late to save her unborn child and two of the other technicians. That was when the cracks in her marriage got bigger. They'd been together off and on for nearly two more years. And yet, she'd gone for the papers the minute she was able to get out of that hospital bed. Her daughter - the light of her life - was gone. Dead before she could ever take a breath. But Riley was determined to make them last. And she'd been weak enough to take him up on it.

Her gaze flicked over to the table of her hotel room. Three items sat on it, forming a triangle. To the left were her divorce papers, already signed and ready to be mailed. To the right were her resignation forms from their unit, also signed and ready to deliver. And in the center was the most important results of her life since that frigid night she'd laid in her own blood, holding her stomach as she lost her child.

Taking a calming breath, she pushed herself up off the bed and walked calmly to face the table. She was pregnant. There was no way in hell she was risking this child's life - not for a crumbling marriage to a man who had made her the rebound girl and the job that had taken what should have been her firstborn daughter.


	8. Protection Detail

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Protection Detail  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Losing a brother, gaining a nephew.  
Words: 322  
A/N: Set post-season three, pre-au!season four. Also, making up where Lisa and Ben live because, well, I don't remember where they said they lived and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. Besides, they moved after the whole changeling thing anyway. Right?  
I had no intention of writing a Sam/Ben/Lisa/Dawn (not that that in any way is a pairing because eeewww.) piece (a Dean/Dawn/Lisa/Ben confrontation piece yes). But a few reviewers asked and I delivered...kinda.

_****___

Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Protection Detail

Sam hung his head between his knees. If Dawn was her normally bubbly self, she'd be mocking him for his cross-imitation of a giraffe and an ostrich. Seeing as she'd been the one to drop the bombshell of Ben being his nephew because Lisa was too chicken-shit to do it, Dawn was not in her normal playful mood. She'd gone steely and quiet, and that was never a good thing.

"God," Sam raked a hand through his hair. "They'll be gunning for him. Once they realize there's another Winchester out there somewhere -"

"Hey, we'll make 'em damn busy with you, Sam," Dawn cleared her throat.

"Thanks," Sam gave her a shaky grin. "I think."

"You know what I mean," Dawn rolled her eyes. "I can set her up with a pretty decent hex bag and a few protection amulets for her house. We can't tat up the kid, but I'm pretty sure Willow'll know how to make a kick-ass pendant for the kid to wear that's spelled against removal or accidental loss. Oooh, maybe she can do rub on tattoos?"

"Why?"

"Because kids love rub on tattoos?" Dawn frowned.

"No, I mean, why are you - Ben's not kin to you."

"No, but he's family," Dawn smacked him lightly on the head. "You're family, doofus. He's your family, thus he's _my_ family. And, also, I kind of hate his mom on principal, so me popping back up will be torture."

"Lisa's just -"

"Are you defending the woman who blatantly lied to your brother? Because I will have to beat you harder," Dawn narrowed her eyes.

"No. But I get it."

"Okay, so we're in agreement here. Ben's to be protected, we're all family, and I'm in it to annoy Lisa."

"Dean would have loved you."

"I'm vicious that way. I also pull hair and bite when warranted. So, I'm gonna call my girls and get a protection kit here stat."


	9. Hellhounds At Your Door

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Hellhounds At Your Door  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Sam and Dawn meet the most interesting people in their travelsnot.  
A/N: Set post-season three, pre-au!season four. Connected to two of my verses: The Bela Rayne-Sandiego verse (in which Bela is the love child of Ethan Rayne and Carmen Sandiego) and the Resurrected verse (in which six fandoms are connected). And yes, I am fully aware of my impending insanity, but thank you for noticing.  
A/N2: Cas and Cordy are going to be around in a purely observer role for most of these little thingsuntil, you know, they're not. I had this set as the opener before I thought up Cas & Cordy...they just made more sense to start it off. And then Dawn and Sam just, you know, ate my brain.

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Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Hellhounds At Your Door

"Whatthefuckseriously?" Dawn Summers glared down at the half-naked brunette female sprawled on Sam Winchester's bed. "We so need to find a better quality hotel."

"Holy shit, that's _Bela_," Sam gaped at her, the plastic grocery bags slipping numbly from his fingers. He was pretty sure the bread was squished now. Which was weird that he was even thinking about that right now, what with the dead girl on his bed.

"Wait, wait, wait. Dead-skanky-ho-tried-to-tap-_both_-Winchesters-and-is-hellhoud-kibble-Bela?" Dawn asked, her brow ticking up in confusion.

"She _can_ hear you, you twit," Bela Talbot groaned, rolling over to reveal her battered face and upper chest. Dawn let out a low whistle as she caught sight of the discolored flesh. Didn't keep her from coming back at that.

"Sorry, I already had my quota of both British and bitchy today. So dead girls don't get to dance in this round, _twit_," Dawn snapped back at her. She'd already had to field a call from some inept brat at Council Headquarters.

"I'm not dead, despite the elder Winchester's best intentions," Bela propped herself up.

Sam clenched his fists. And had Dawn not stepped in front of him, he most likely would have used those fists on Bela. Not that she had anything against that. The last couple weeks with the whole 'Ben's Dean's kid' revelation was stressing on them pretty hard already.

"One, I should be smacking the fear of God into you for that low blow. But seeing as somebody already beat you to the punch, I'm gonna hold it back. Two, is there some valid reason for why you're in our hotel room," Dawn rolled her eyes at the waterworks forming in the other woman's eyes. "And think about it very carefully, because you try and play me and if I don't end it, my Slayers will do the job for me."

Dawn fervently hoped neither Vi Day or Faith Lehane ever heard her using them as a threat. Vi got irrationally happy at the idea of being a weapon, and Faith tended to give her a 'what-the-fuck' look. She'd worry about that at a later date. Right now she was enjoying the whitening of Bela Talbot's face - if that was even her real name. Sam had mentioned it was Abbie something.

"You're in league with the Council now?" Bela gaped at Sam. "When did that happen?"

"Right after you were supposed to be chewed up by Hell Hounds like Dean was," Sams jaw tightened. Dawn secretly hoped he didn't break those pretty teeth of his. "How'd _that_ go for you?"

"I asked first," Bela licked her lips.

"That's a Chaos pendant," Dawn's eyes caught on the sparkling amethyst dangling from Bela's throat. Her brows furrowed. She _knew_ that pendant. Sam frowned at her, and Bela got downright twitchy. It all clicked. "That's a _Peruvian _Chaos Mage's pendant. Funny how much it looks like the one that got stolen from the National Gallery five months ago."

"I haven't the foggiest idea of what you're speaking of," Bela cleared her throat.

"What's a Chaos Mage's pendant doing around her throat?" Sam set his grocery bags on the table, then stalked over to where Bela was squirming.

"My guess? Repelling the Hell Hounds until she can get someone stupid enough to trade her essence," Dawn shrugged.

"It was a gift from my mother," Bela blurted.

"You killed your parents in your deal with Lilith," Sam countered.

"My _adopted_ parents."

"That heist was associated with V.I.L.E., and their leader Carmen Sandiego. And from what _I_ know about them, they don't have the right kind of know-how to activate that pendant."

"Mother is extremely powerful," Bela slipped again. Part of that was the problem. The idiot Carmen had gotten to take her daughter's place had put up a hell of a fight before her father could work his magic.

"Carmen Sandiego is your mother," Sam gaped at her. Once it sunk in, he shook his head. "That makes _so_ much sense."

"There's only _two_ people powerful enough in Chaos Majiks that I know who could pull that off," Dawn crossed her arms. "Giles doesn't practice anymore, which only leaves Ethan Rayne. So what pull do you have over Ethan Rayne that would get him do that for you?"

"He's my father."

"Oh. Eww," Dawn shook her head.

"He's not wholly repugnant, you know," Bela glared at her. "He's quite dashing for an older man."

"That's it, I just threw up in my mouth," Dawn gagged a bit.

"Ugh, uh, what are you doing _here_ Bela?" Sam's face was pinched in an uneasy expression.

"I need a favor."

"What makes you think I'd do anything for you. Especially after the shit you pulled?" Sam growled.

Dawn closed her eyes as she heard the cocking of a gun from her left. Her eyes slipped over to the dark haired older woman who slipped out of the shadows. Ethan Rayne came from the other side.

"Leaving you alive can be such the right motivator, don't you think?" Ethan tweaked Dawn's nose as he passed her.

"What do you want, Bela," Sam said through clenched teeth.

"A witch."

"No way in hell am I giving you the goods on Willow!" Dawn snapped, feeling the barrel of the gun press into her side.

"Whoever said we needed _that_ witch," Ethan chuckled.

"I don't know any other witches," Dawn frowned.

"No, but _he_ knows one."

"You want _Ruby_?" Sam's frown mirrored Dawn's.

"Well, why didn't you say so!" Dawn cried. "I have no qualms about pointing you in the hell-ho's direction. You deserve each other."

"Dawn, you have no clue where Ruby might be," Sam hissed.

"Sam, she's been checking in five rooms down from us for the past week," Dawn rolled her eyes at him. "I was going to have another knife talk with her tonight, before Bela bloodied _my_ sheets trying to get our sympathy."


	10. Recap: The Love Song of Buffy Summers

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Recap: The Love Song of Buffy Summers  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN, RTD owns the Whoverse, Spelling owns the Charmed verse.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: The patchwork that makes up Buffy and Graham's relationship in the Resurrected verse.  
Words: 2,419  
A/N: So these parts featured in _25 for 25_. But because not all of the request pieces are connected to the Resurrected verse, I didn't want to lump 25 in with the 'Resurrected verse series and out of the Birthday Insanity series. So. Recapping! Yay. Some of the material may be new - the bridger pieces to make them flow into one - but most of it will be recycled, edited or extended. There will be about two or three of them, depending on how fast I finish up 25.

_****___

Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Recap: The Love Song of Buffy Summers

~*~  
_It gets the best of me_

It was funny where life had led her. She'd fallen for Angel, and then hooked up with Spike. She'd fallen for Riley, and now she was sitting across from his best friend Graham. She'd never looked twice at him when shed been dating Riley, and to be honest, she wasnt quite sure why that was.

Graham had defended her to Forrest when he'd been alive, had accepted her powers and had come to peace with them faster than Riley. He'd always been pleasant to her, and Buffy had vague recollections of Riley wanting to set up the slightly shorter soldier/frat boy with post-Oz-pre-Tara Willow.

"This is weird," Buffy smiled at him.

"What's weird is that it took Sunnydale sinking in on itself for us to meet up again," Graham chuckled, sipping his beer. There was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "How did you manage that one again?"

_"I_ didn't manage it, thank you very much. That was all Spike's doing."

"Ah, good old Hostile Seventeen," Graham shook his head.

"I should still be pissed at you, you know," Buffy narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did I do?"

"You swooped back into Sunnydale and whisked Riley away," Buffy held back a smile when he blushed a bit. "Didn't think I knew about that, did you?"

"He wasn't happy, and you probably weren't either."

"Oh, no, none of that psychology crap, mister. I am so on to you. Riley could have been the love of my life for all you know!"

"Sucks that he's the love of _Sam's_ life instead," Graham merely shrugged in that annoying little noncommittal military shrug. Buffy narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, then _you_ know who's the love of _my_ life? I mean, since it's obviously never been Riley?"

"I have a pretty good idea of who it might be," Graham leaned back, a confident smirk on his handsome face.

"Care to share that with me?"

"I'm not much in the mood for share-time."

"Really? How odd."

"Nah, you know I've always been more show and tell," Graham's smirk widened.

"I don't remember much of the tell."

"I could show you again."

"Again? I don't remember you showing me anything in the first place, Miller."

"Well, I did drag your boyfriend far, far away from you for more than just the mission."

Buffy popped a brow, taking a sip from her glass and not saying anything. Funny, how she really wasn't all that pissed off about that incident anymore. Riley was in the past, and Graham, well, he was kind of the present. But she let him squirm, because she had been pissed at him, _a lot_, actually. Not as much as she'd been pissed at Riley for the actual leaving. But there had been anger issues directed his way.

"And I was in Sunnydale, when they were," Graham added.

"And you didn't even stop to apologize," Buffy admonished.

"Ri had enough of that to do for himself, figured you could only take so much of groveling military men falling at your feet," Graham gave a small shrug, his fingers playing in the condensation on his glass. "And you were newly alive. Explains Hostile Seventeen."

"Hey, I heard about the demon girl you dated! You cannot pick on Spike or my relationship with him."

"She wasn't you."

"Well, duh, I'm not a demon. Slayer, remember?" Buffy huffed, trying to play off the comment. Was he being flirtatious, or just - ugh, and people wondered why she'd hooked up with the undead. Slightly less complicated then regular boys. Well, not really, but it wasn't like she was going to explain that to him.

"Same goes for all the human girls I dated since I knew you. Same reason they didn't stick. They weren't you, Summers," Graham's voice lowered, his eyes staring straight into hers the entire time, which was impressive. A lot of guys couldn't look her in the eye. "Its easy to get hung up on a lady like you."

And it was in that instant she fell for plain old Army boy Graham Miller. Because he called her a lady, and excepted all of her weirdness as a bonus and not a flaw.

* * *

Jaylin White pressed a hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes. Oh, how she wished her girl had found Graham first all those years ago. It would have saved her daughter so much grief. But she was aware of the path that had to be traveled for her daughter to get to this point - at eighteen, still reeling from the loss of Angel, Buffy hadn't been ready for forever. And that was exactly what Graham Miller, her charge, would be for the daughter of Joyce Summers. Forever.

* * *

Buffy stared at the ring on her finger, not really believing that it was there. Finally. Samantha, Xander and Willow were all in the kitchen sending out various e-mails and phone calls. She'd already called Giles, Dawn and Faith. But Graham was in the other room, making the phone call that she and Samantha dreaded making. Sam because she dreaded talking to her ex at all. Buffy because she wasn't quite sure how hed react to it. From the expression on Graham's face she knew how it went - not well at all.

~*~  
_Well, technically I am_

Riley Finn snapped his phone shut with an audible click. The woman with him cocked a brow in his direction. He wasn't even supposed to _have_ the phone on him, according to hunt regulations. But with a pregnant, estranged wife and other operatives out in the field under his supervision, he didn't really give a rat's ass about the regulations right now.

"Bad news, then?" Martha Jones asked, lowering her weapon to her side.

"My _best friend_ just got engaged," Riley hissed through clenched teeth.

"And apparently that's _bad _news?" she frowned at him.

"He got engaged to my ex -"

Marthas eye's popped open. "Your mate hooked up with your pregnant wife?"

"What?" Riley's head whipped around to stare at her as if she had three heads.

"You just said -"

"Not my _wife_, my ex-girlfriend."

Martha stared at him, weighing her next words carefully. She crept over to his side of the room, making sure the creatures they were studying didn't notice the movement in the abandoned building across the way.

"How long ago did you break up with her?"

Riley stared down at the suspects, ignoring her question for a few minutes. When he ignored it longer than absolutely necessary, Martha jabbed him in the side with the butt of her laser gun.

"I walked out on her back in 2001," Riley muttered.

"You married _Sam_ in 2002, Finn," Martha's mouth dropped open. "_Sam_ was your rebound girl?"

"Sam's my wife -" Not that the divorce papers hadn't just got to him yesterday.

"And you obviously hooked up with her after you walked out on this girl your mate is now engaged to," Martha snapped, angry for both women.

"Look -"

"You've no right to be upset with him for hooking up _with_ her, nearly what - _eight_ years after the fact. You moved on, _she's_ obviously moved on. So get over it already!" Martha huffed, turning away from him. Honestly, boys could be a little thick at some times.

Riley stewed in all Martha had to say for several long moments before flicking his eyes off of the building they were watching.

"He called me back to active duty," Riley said quietly, his hands shaking angrily. "I _left_ because he told me they needed me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"But still, he waited _eight_ _years_ to make a move on her," Martha pointed out. "Wasn't as if he waited eight hours or days."

"Can you just be quiet, Jones," Riley snapped, shifting his attention back to their target.

"Poor Sam, though. Being the rebound girl can be a heavy burden," Martha muttered, training her weapon back on target.

* * *

Samantha had gone into labor suddenly, but luckily for her, it was an easy birth. It didn't stop her or her extended family from worrying. The fact that Riley couldn't make it home in time didn't help the hurt feelings, but Graham and Buffy had been there, coaching her through it.

And she honestly tried to not feel hurt at another abandonment. She should be used to them.

~*~  
_So you can be haunted_

Graham stood on the back porch watching the government issued car pull up the drive. It wasn't going to be a fun day, but Sam and Buffy had wanted it. The hatchet needed to be buried what with the birth of Riley's son, and the pre-wedding celebration. Shoving his hands in his jean pockets and bracing his feet apart, he glanced out into the mid-afternoon sunlight.

Riley said something to the woman in the seat beside him. Graham clenched his hands inside his pockets. He would _not_ say anything about how tacky it was for Riley to bring another woman to where his soon to be ex-wife was taking care of their week old son.

"Tacky," a voice muttered behind him. Graham bit his lip to keep from smiling at his soon-to-be sister-in-law's comment.

"Leavin' so soon, Dawnie?" Graham asked, ticking a glance over at her.

"Couple of hours," Dawn shrugged, her fingers hovering over the phone in her pocket, betraying her nerves. "Sammy-boy can't get himself in _too_ much trouble in a few hours, right?"

"Are you sure _he_ shouldn't be getting the shovel speech?" Graham chuckled at the look of revulsion on her face.

"Ugh, Sammy's so in the Xander-zone it's not even funny," Dawn shuddered. "Who's the chick with Ri?"

"Haven't the foggiest."

"Tacky," Dawn muttered again.

The woman was shaking her head at whatever Riley was saying and quickly pushed herself out of the vehicle. She smiled brightly at them as she made her way up the porch.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Martha Jones," Martha smiled brightly at them. "A friend of Sam's and Riley's partner."

"Oh, Sam was talking about you the other day!" Dawn said brightly, losing her attitude with the other woman suddenly. "Sam's in here."

Riley's pace was a lot slower as Dawn and Martha disappeared into the house. He stood at the bottom stair for a few minutes, anger in his eyes.

"Ri," Graham smiled easily at him.

"Miller."

Graham's brow popped at the comment. He didn't say anything about it, but he still held out his hand in welcome to Riley. By now the taller soldier had made his way up the steps and was face-level. Graham should have known that Riley's fist was coming for him, hell, he'd even braced himself beforehand. He rocked back on his heels and felt the skin break at the force of the punch. Still didn't say anything.

"Sam's in the back with the baby," Graham said, gently rubbing at the blood starting to ooze from his lip. "She didn't pick a name yet, but was thinking about Jesse. Wants to put it to a vote."

"You're not even going to say anything about him hitting you?"

Both men turned to face Dawn, who'd come back to see what was taking them so long. Riley clenched his jaw and stared down at the youngest Summers. Dawn crossed her arms and gave him a fuck-off look. Graham smiled a bit at this, trying not to wince at the pain in his mouth.

"Nope," Graham sighed.

"Fuckin A," Dawn shook her head, leveling her gaze at Riley. "You need to get over it. Seriously. You could move on, but Buffy couldn't?"

"Dawnie -"

"You don't get to 'Dawnie' me, Finn," Dawn snapped. "You _walked _out on Buffy, and _waltzed_ back in on her life with Soldier-Girl Sam. So what if Buffy's engaged to Graham ? Now you decided to be pissy about who she's sleeping with? Oh, wait, I forgot, you were determined to wreck her thing with _Spike _too. And you popped up when she had that fling with the Immortal. Douchebag!" She punctuated this with a sharp kick to Riley's shins.

"Dawnie," Graham warned, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Go help Buffy with dinner. I know you want to hit the road soon so you can get back to Winchester."

"Oh, don't throw the puppy in my face," Dawn huffed, turning back into the house. "Douche-y solider boys. One of these days, I am so giving up on the male sex!"

Graham laughed at both her comment and the look on Riley's face at the kick. Riley glared at him. Graham shook his head.

"I didn't know eight years ago that this is where the road would lead, Ri," Part of him had wished it, sure. He hadn't believed it ever would, just as he hadn't been sure Riley would have come back to the agency. But he had, and the road did. "We needed you, period. It had nothing to do with her or your relationship. But its done."

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to go after her, once your time was up?" Riley crossed his arms and stared him down.

"We bumped into each other on accident back in '03, in New Orleans. Her and Dawn were down there looking for a slayer. It started out as casual group or work things. I helped out on a few jobs for the new council. I didn't make a move on her that way until I left the agency three years ago."

Riley stared at him, knowing that everything he'd said made sense. He and Sam had been married for nearly four years before Graham had even thought to make a move in Buffy's direction. Because he knew that should anything come out of it, Riley would be beyond pissed. The tension seemed to drain from Riley.

"Will _he_ be a good father to my son if anything happens to me?" Riley asked, glancing through the screen door to where Sam sat resting on the couch beside Martha and Buffy, their son in her lap.

"The divorce is final, then?" Graham asked, already knowing that Sam was through with the life that had already lost her one child and had ripped apart her shaky marriage. She'd asked for the separation the minute she'd found out she was pregnant. Riley nodded. "Yeah, he's a good guy."

"She's happier then I've ever seen her," Riley sighed.

Graham wasn't sure if he was talking about Buffy or Sam, so he only replied, "She really is."


	11. Bargain with the Devil

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Bargain with the Devil  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN, Henson owns the Labryinth, Kenyon owns the Dark-Hunters (and if you squint someone owns Carmen Sandiego.)  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Why Bela needs Rubyand the escape plan.  
A/N: The answer to why Bela was bloody, and also - a break between the Recaps.

_****___

Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Bargain with the Devil

Ruby's head rose groggily off the pillow. Which was just fucked up, because demons didn't need to sleep, and she was fairly certain in her long career as one that demons didn't dream either. But she must be dreaming - because Bela Sandiego-Rayne was breathing, and she was sure her legion of Hellhounds had been scheduled to drag Bela's pathetic ass to jail.

"Bela," Ruby groaned as she pushed herself up. "Nice version of hell you're livin in."

"Yes, well, when Lilith's right hand bitch is up here kicking her heels, I figured I could cope with it as well," Bela smiled serenely, leaning her bruised and battered body back into the hotel chair.

"Don't taunt the lion, Bela-love," Ethan Rayne spoke from the corner, drawing Ruby's blackened eyes to him.

"And look at you two," Ruby snapped, glaring at Carmen who was playing with a dagger behind Bela's head. "The proud parents of a bouncing baby psychopath."

"Glass houses, demon," Ethan tsked.

"What sucker took your place in hell?" Ruby flipped him off.

"Funnily enough, a soul sucker," Bela sucked in a breath.

"A Daimon?" Ruby's eyes widened.

"Well, she would have been one eventually," Bela shrugged.

"So what do you need me for?" Ruby said cautiously. "You already slipped your deal with Lilith."

"I need one of your contacts," Bela licked her lips.

"My contacts?" Ruby deadpanned.

"A certain King in a lower dimension, with a British accent and a penchant for musical numbers."

"Jareth, the Goblin King is who you want to hide out with?" Ruby frowned. "Why?"

"Because Lilith fears him, and she won't go near his territory."

"Lilith is annoyed by him, she doesn't _fear_ anyone but Sam Winchester. Youd' be better off hooking up with him," Ruby frowned. "Actually, forget Jareth, go for Sam Winchester."

"You're not breaking up the Summers chit and her pet project that easily," Ethan snorted.

"She's already promised to bloody me even worse," Bela shook her head. "And I burned that bridge long ago."

"Fine, but I don't think he'll let you in his kingdom," Ruby shook her head. "His heart belongs to only one brunette, and trust me, you aren't her."

"But I could be," Bela grinned.

"Yeah, somehow I don't see that happening."


	12. Recap: The Whoverse Connection

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Recap: The Whoverse Connection  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN, RTD owns the Whoverse, Murphy owns Glee, Kenyon owns the Dark-Hunters. Am I forgetting anyone?  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: 2500  
A/N: So these parts featured in _25 for 25_. But because not all of the request pieces are connected to the Resurrected verse, I didn't want to lump 25 in with the Resurrected verse series and out of the Birthday Insanity series. So. Recapping! Yay. Some of the material may be new - the bridger pieces to make them flow into one - but most of it will be recycled or extended. There will be about two or three of them, depending on how fast I finish up 25.

_****___

Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
Recap: The Whoverse Connection

~*~  
_Nows' the time to be alive_

Stupid higher beings, thinking they knew better. Cordelia Chase, former higher-being, former Queen C, and former helper of the hopeless had had enough of them. Put a girl in a coma and give her a one-off, and she definitely saw the downside. Which was why the Powers had finally given her some respect. Sure, that respect was in the form of a boot to her backside and powers enough to not royally muck it up, whatever _that_ meant.

Which was why she was standing in front of the red-haired British woman who was looking at her expectantly.

"Uh, this is where I'm supposed to be, isn't it?" Donna Noble asked for the second time, starting to get annoyed that the disgustingly pretty brunette was staring at her like she'd just crawled out of a ripe bin. "Oy, curly-q, you even listening?"

"Sorry, brain lapse. Well, life lapse, but whatevs. You're the temp the agency sent, right? Donna Noble?" Cordelia smiled brightly at her.

"That's what I said," Donna fought to keep her temper. It was a struggle - as always.

"Right. The runaway bride."

"'Scuse me? I've never been engaged, not for lack of trying mind you, and I'd definitely not run out of my own wedding," Donna scoffed.

"You didn't have a choice, hon," Cordelia said sympathetically.

"What are you goin' on about?"

"Spiders. Big spiders from outer space. And a cute little wiry man with crazy clothes and sad eyes and hair that stuck up to here," Cordelia held her hand about half a foot from her head. "Ringing any bells?"

"Are you having me on? You are, aren't you? Am I on Candid Camera? I am, aren't I? Is your button the camera?"

Donna reached out to poke at the button on Cordelia's shirt that said something inane like 'file clerk ask me how!'. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Cordelia smacked her hand down and let her nifty new powers flow through her and into the former companion.

"You can remember now. The Doctor, saving lives and worlds, being a unit. Being more than just a girl going from temporary gig to temporary gig. Hell, remember Rose, Mickey, Martha, Jackie, Jack, Sarah Jane, Luke, even the tin dog. Remember saving the world. Because, honestly, the PtB's need to stop screwing over the good guys. We're gonna need you for the fight, and I really don't want to have to retrain a champion from scratch, kay?" Cordy huffed, a bit winded after her magic un-fried the shoulda-been-fried-from-the-memory-download brain of Donna Noble.

"Oh, that idiotic space genius!" Donna shouted, not even bothering to keep her voice down, tears forming in her eyes. "Imagine, doin' all that to - to -"

"Its s.o.p. in our line of work, unfortunately," Cordy shrugged. "Besides, your boy -"

"That great big alien dumbo," Donna muttered, ignoring the wobbling in her bottom lip at the mention of her Doctor.

"That would be the one, yes. Unfortunately, he didn't count on that_ one_."

Cordy pointed to a bubbly blonde wearing odd army fatigues that did not go with the peppy uni-student fresh faced girl. Her eyes were wide and knowing at the same time, a bit like the Doctor. Donna's mouth dropped open as Jenny, the Doctor's daughter, caught sight of her and let out a squeal of excitement.

"How - what -"

"They used Time Lord DNA to make a soldier. It kinda took over the other donor DNA."

"And I've got two hearts. I'm not sure on the whole regenerating bit, but I am not eager to find out either," Jenny finished explaining as she pulled Donna into a quick hug. "I've been looking all over for you and Dad. Funny, I sound like a little girl who's lost track of her mum in the shop."

"Oi, watch it there G.I. Jane. I'm not nearly old enough to be your big sister much less your mum," Donna huffed, but she squeezed Jenny's shoulder tightly.

"Sorry. I meant it in the nicest way."

"Yeah, Jenny was gonna fry your brain when she found you," Cordelia smiled sadly at the two women. It reminded her heartbreakingly of Connor, before the world went to hell. "Didn't seem fair. Too many girls like us get royally screwed, and I am done with that nonsense."

"You're different," Jenny jerked back a little, as if noticing Cordelia for the first time.

"Happens when you're dead," Cordelia smiled brightly, even as she began to fade a bit. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try and figure out what I am, Time Lady. Enjoy the run, and see if you can find that stupid boy of yours again, Donna."

* * *

Castiel frowned at her - honestly, did the angel of the Lord have any other expression? She shook her head and watched from the upper level of the lobby as Donna - temp job forgotten in lieu of her returned memory - and Jenny quickly caught each other up on their lives.

"That does not get them on the path to Lima, Cordelia," Castiel frowned at her.

"They aren't needed there for at least another four months - he won't show up until then," Cordelia shrugged, her eyes flicking to him. "Don't you have a champion to yank out of hell -"

Castiel suddenly blipped out of existence. Cordelia growled at that and shook her head.

"- again. Really wish he would stop doing that."

A moment later, she was blipping out as well. A bar called Sanctuary was calling her name and she was parched.

~*~  
_Worst of all you doubt yourself_

Papers fluttered about the half-empty hallway of McKinley High School and the sound of the TARDIS landing didn't hit anyone's ears at all. The Doctor jumped through the door, ready to take on anything. Just not the slushie that thwacked him in the face. A horrified gasp sounded behind him that sounded like a young girl, but what with the cold sticky corn-syrup mess in his face, the Doctor just couldn't be sure.

"Dude, you hit a teacher!" one of the boys gasped, quickly turning tail and running away from the boy left holding the cup.

"I was aiming for Man-Hands!" the second boy stuttered.

"Ah, the Midwest," the Doctor sighed, wiping at the drink as it started to sting his eyes. "Oh, its grape. Not banana, mind you, but still quite good."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves, attacking a teacher in such a fashion," the girl who apparently had man-hands started to lecture them.

"Ah, its sort of okay. I'm not a teacher," the Doctor shrugged, and the culprits took that opportunity to flee, cup clattering to the floor. "Though, I did do a stint as a substitute teacher once. Well, twice. I'm the Doctor."

"Oh," the girl blinked at him. "Are you a parent, then?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, but for a change, nothing came out. There'd been his family on Gallifrey. Then there'd been Jenny. Shaking off those morose thoughts he turned to answer the girl - whose name he still didn't know.

"Prospective parent, actually. Checking out the school system for my daughter," he tried not to wince at the mention of Jenny.

"And you chose McKinley and Lima to do that?" the girls eyes widened.

"Yes," which only made her frown. "I didn't quite catch your name."

"Rachel, Rachel Berry," he could see her mind working through something, but hadn't been prepared for what came out of her mouth next. "Your daughter wouldn't happen to be a good singer, would she?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. There hadn't been enough time for them to figure that and a million and one other things about her before she'd died.

"How can you not know if she can sing?" Rachel looked absolutely appalled at the idea.

"Nasty divorce, I don't spend much time with her," which was as close to the truth as he could get.

"A father is a very important part in a growing girl's life. I've been extremely blessed in the fact that I have two gay fathers," Rachel explained, but the Doctor could see something there in her eyes and heard the definite absence of a _mother_ in her life. "I find it quite beneficial -"

"And I am sure it is. Could you tell me if anything _odd_ has been happening around Lima recently? Anything out of the ordinary, say?"

"Not unless you count football players and cheerleaders joining the Glee club and my dating two of said football players as odd. And our Glee club winning Sectionals," Rachel frowned in the direction of a tall blonde woman in a tracksuit. "Despite _someone _leaking our set list to the competition."

"Yeah, not really the _sort_ of odd I was looking for," the Doctor frowned as a glop of purple sugar water started running down the inside of his shirt. "This is the men's room, yes?"

"Yes. You really should wash it off before the syrup dries. It starts to burn and irritate delicate skin. If you do decide to enroll your daughter here at McKinley, please see if she has any interest in joining Glee."

"I'll get right on that."

Shaking his head as she started walking off toward two dark haired boys, the Doctor doubled back to the TARDIS. If nothing alien had happened here, then why was his hand going off again? The itching hit him then, and he dashed to the bathroom to scrub away the remnants of slushie. That Rachel girl made it sound as if slushie tossing was an everyday thing. Where the hell did these kids get the money to waste on something they didn't even drink?

He shifted the TARDIS from the main hallway to just under the bleachers. Something was going on here. And if he hadn't run off to wash off the slushie, he would have seen a girl sporting a familiar blonde ponytail leaning against the hood of a black Impala and talking to a shapely brunette.

* * *

Jenny wasn't quite sure how they had ended up in America, other than the Angel Castiel ordering them there. Not that she was utterly convinced that angels were real. Aliens, sure. She'd seen a ton of them in her travels, meeting Jack, Sarah Jane and Luke. She'd met plenty of her father's allies, and very few of his enemies luckily. But then Cordelia - the odd woman who had saved Donnas mind and reunited her with Jenny - had come to them in Cardiff and told them that very dark powers were about to rise in Lima, Ohio of all places. Cordelia had looked so sad when she had said that, that Jenny and Donna had taken the unlikely lift from the angel Castiel.

Which was why she was pretending to be a prospective student - she was physically only seventeen even if she was only chronologically three. Dawn, the girl who was here on a mission of her own, and gotten a funny look on her face when Jenny had let that slip.

She let herself be guided around by an unseemly boy named Jacob Ben-Israel who kept ogling her chest, wondering just what was about to go down in innocent looking Lima.

~*~  
_I need a hand to hold onto_

"You can't have just _wished_ a girl away, and poof she's gone!" Jenny was arguing with Donna.

"I don't know. I could've used that with a couple of my mates," Donna shrugged.

"Nothing about this place is logical _at all_," Jenny huffed. "And what are those two going to do about it?"

"Don't know, Spock, what do you want to do about it?" Donna frowned. "Maybe get an angel involved?"

"He can't be an angel," Jenny frowned. "No more than she's been wished away by a goblin king!"

"What I don't understand is why - if there's a goblin king taking divas away to their underground world, why someone hasn't wished her away before now," Kurt Hummel, the lovely young man who'd replaced Jacob Ben-Israel as Jenny's tour guide, pointed out. "Not that we don't need her to win Regionals, of course. Because we sadly do."

"How would no one notice a horde of goblins stealing a girl away besides the boy with the Mohawk, the girl who's preggers and the goofy looking boy?"

"Dawn said something about a Denial charm," Jenny shrugged at Donna's question. "About it being almost Sunnydale-esque, whatever that means."

"But why would the goblins _want_ Rachel Berry?" Kurt frowned.

"Hello, mind if I ask what this is all about? Something happened to Miss Berry?"

Jenny and Donna whipped around in shock to see the Doctor gaping at them. Jenny squealed as she flung herself into her father's arms. Donna smacked his arm repeatedly, calling him a git and a lot of other odd British expressions he couldn't process over the fact that she was not a drooling puddle the moment she recognized him. Kurt - after approving the man's sense of style of course - noticed that he'd asked about Rachel by name.

"Oh, Quinn wished Rachel was taken away by the goblin king and a bunch of goblins magiked her out of here," Kurt said in one breath. "May I ask where you got those shoes, because they are spectacular."

"Kiev, in the 1900's," the Doctor answered without thinking. "How can you remember me -"

"Without my brain imploding? A magic girl popped up at a job interview, seconds before your daughter would have killed me."

"I apologized for that, already. How was I to know he did some wacky mind meld with you to wipe your brain?" Jenny frowned.

"How are you -"

"Two hearts, Dad," Jenny's smile wobbled. "More like you than you thought, eh?"

The Doctor laughed loudly and pulled both his girls into a big hug, his heart lighter than it had been in months, years, hours, maybe even centuries. Then Kurt's first answer hit him.

"Goblins don't exist!"

* * *

"Pay up, Castiel," Cordelia crowed.

"I don't have human money," Castiel said in that deep monotone that was starting to turn her on. Well, that and the fact that he was the only male she had contact with these days.

"I told you the Doctor would say that -"

"The Doctor is an abomination."

"Look around you, Cas," Cordy shook her head. She pointed to where Dawn and Dean were trying to calm down Quinn and Puck, "You've got the Key hooking up with a dead man, and the propegation of the Winchester line over in one corner. You've got two half-Gallifreyians and the last Time Lord reminiscing in front of one of the most fashion-conscious teenage boys I have ever met in the other. And do you even want to get me started on the others? We need them to stop the seals from breaking."

"That still doesn't make them not abominations," Castiel frowned.

"Hey pot, you're calling kettle black, and oh, you're wearing the same outfit!"

"I don't know what that means."


	13. The Hearts of the Matter

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: The Hearts of the Matter  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing - Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN, Davies owns the first 4 of the New Who & spin-offs, Henson owns the goblins.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected 'verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Okay, so Davies and Moffat seriously need to stop making me cry with their episodes of Who. I had a backwards marathon of series 5 and finally watched all of The Stolen Earth and rewatched Journey's End. (And yet, I have only seen the first two and last two episodes of series 3. Hmm, go figure on that one.) Matt Smith (11) and David Tennant (10) slay me. (Mind you, 9 is still my first Doctor, but I love the mad men and their crazy hair almost as equally as the tall bloke in the leather jacket and jumper. Saint's preserve me if I ever go back and fall half-in love with numbers 1-8.)  
And end fangirly rant. This idea though? This came from the last episode of series 5. He likes breaking poor ginger girls hearts just a little bit, doesn't our Doctor?  
Also, I know Donna knows what happened to the man in question, but its all a bit hazy to her still. It's gradually returning to her, all the crap that got shoved in her head.

__

**__**

Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports

  
The Hearts of the Matter

"And _him_, what'd you do with him?" Donna's eyes narrowed as she spun to face the Doctor.

"Him who? _Jack_? Are you asking after him?" the Doctor shook his head. "That man and that coat, what is it about him?"

"Don't know, must be the fact that he's absolutely gorgeous?" Donna snorted. "And I wasn't askin' after him. The DoctorDonna - the meta-thingy that looked like you but sounded like me? Our _son_?"

"Time Lord-Human Metacrisis, and don't you remember?" the Doctor frowned.

"You two had a son?" Jenny blinked, taken aback by this sudden revelation. "I didn't think you two were lov-"

"We're not! Never, ever not!" Donna laughed.

"Never say never, ever," the Doctor's eyes darkened, as if he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying. "And he was mostly human."

"So where is he? I figured you would have had a blast, kickin' around time and space with him," Donna crossed her arms, looking every bit the worried mum she apparently was.

"He stayed with Rose," the Doctor smiled sadly. "She's a good influence on people, she was on me."

"That's because she's a pretty blonde thing," Donna snorted, seemingly relieved that the life created between them had been spared a memory-wipe and still lived. "Trapped on the other side of the planes though? Not able to annihilate any more enemy aliens, then?"

"You sound almost sad about that," the Doctor scoffed.

"No! Worried a bit -"

"Donna -"

"Well, I did bring him into this world," she huffed. "Technically. Only right that if anyone's gonna be takin' him out, it ought to be me."

"He's got Rose," the Doctor smiled wistfully.

"And who have you got, hmm?"

"You and Jenny apparently," he joked. "Oh dear."

"It's not a laughin' matter, space boy -"

Jenny was drawn away from the conversation as she spotted Cordelia hiding in the corridor that led to the bedrooms. Slipping away from the bickering parents, she turned to the Seer.

"Am I meant to know what's going on here?" Jenny frowned, looking between her father and Donna.

"It's more than just a funny coincidence that the only children he's had in the last few hundred years or so of his existence have been with Donna Noble. Not Rose Tyler or Martha Jones. Hell, he didn't even have one with _Jack_," Cordelia chuckled. "His one girl that was never more to him than as his very best friend turns out to be the mother of his children."

Jenny stared at her blankly. She'd heard of both Rose and Jack, and she'd met Martha of course, but she didn't understand what the Seer was trying to say. Cordelia's eyes softened, as if she understood Jenny's befuddled thoughts.

"Rose had his heart and she gave him back his hope. Martha, she got his sadness and in a way became his crusade. And Donna-"

"Gave him a future. His _true_ legacy," Tears welled in Jenny's eyes as she watched her father joke with Donna across the TARDIS bay. It sunk in, more now than ever, what had gone into the process of Jenny being reunited with her family. "All that help I had along the way, all the breaks in luck and time travel that I had - was that you? Guiding me so I could give you a chance to resurrect the very best of humanity in her?"

"Not just in her, soldier girl. In _both _of them, and in you," Cordelia wrapped an arm around her shoulder, offering the half-Gallifreyan teen. "You should have seen him, as I have over the years. He was fantastic and excited with Rose. But part of him was so sad and lost with Martha. Neither one of them could lead him to this."

"There's more to all of this, though, isn't there?" Jenny frowned again, brushing at the tears on her cheeks and settling into the comforting gesture the Seer offered. "You can't have been sent to merely lead us to this."

"Redemption's a rocky road," Cordelia's voice caught. "And I was in Donna's shoes once."

"You traveled with my father? Has he just been collecting a harem all these years?" Jenny joked, not liking the sadness in the other woman's eyes.

"No. My best friend's only child came about indirectly because of me. If he hadn't had to save me, he wouldn't have been on their radar for a few years and the prophecy would have probably stayed buried for a few millennia. Connor wouldn't be alive yet, and maybe the bad stuff wouldn't have had to happen."

"But then neither would the good things have happened," Jenny said softly. "And the bad stuff you've stopped here - by fixing her, by fixing _us_ - wasn't that meant to have happened as well? Or are you mucking about with things better left not tampered?"

Cordelia's eyes whitened as she turned to face the younger woman. Jenny pulled back a bit. Apparently, being around her father and Donna were having a bad effect on her coding.

"The worlds would have ended in a burning place, hell on earth before the reset hit. None of them would exist, and all would be lost completely to the Silence," Cordelia took a shuddering breath and her eyes returned to their normal state. "I need you to convince him to stay in town for a bit."

"In Lima? Why would he want to do that?"

"Do not question the Seer, sweetie. Besides, there's a Goblin King's heir here to keep you entertained," Cordelia winked.

"Why would I be interested in Rachel?" Jenny blinked.

"I said the King's _heir_, not his daughter," Cordelia winked at her, popping back out as it sunk in.

"Why would I want to be around that twat Toby Williams?" Jenny cried in outrage.

"Oi, Generated Anomaly Noble, don't you use that kind of language in the TARDIS!" Donna shouted from across the way.

_"Noble_? Why'd you go and call her _Noble_?"

"Not like you've been totin' out your last name, Doctor," Donna shrugged.


	14. Worry Spots

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Worry Spots  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing… Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected 'verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: The Harvelles and Dawn conspire - er, protect the Gumby Girl.  
A/N: I wanted to have Ellen and Jo come into play (as they did reappear in season 5) and get their take on Lisa (yeah, they had me _like_ her for a few seconds in season 6, damn them) and Ben. Plus? I have a fun nifty idea for Jo. (^_^)

_**Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports**  
Worry Spots_

"I don't like this," Ellen Harvelle shifted until she was leaning back against her car. Her daughter Jo mirrored her mother's posture.

"Meeting up with Dawn or Sam is never good," Jo muttered darkly. Of course, Dawn _had_ broken her heart with the news of Dean's death nearly a month ago. "She say what she wanted?"

"No, and Bobby's being tight-lipped about it - whatever the _hell_ it is," Ellen sighed.

Before Jo could reply to that, the Impala made a wide turn into the lot that Dawn had asked them to meet up with her and Sam. Sam looked uncomfortable, and Dawn looked pissed as she got out of the car.

"Hey Ellen, Jo," Sam gave them a tight smile, but looked like he was gonna be sick.

"Sam," Ellen pulled him into a quick hug. Jo just half-smiled at him. "Dawnie, what the hell is going on with you two that you have to call us outta the blue?"

"Long story short?" Dawn sighed, her eyes locking on the younger woman's. "There's a kid in the town a half mile up the road, 6179 Contesti street."

"It's the 'burbs. I'm sure there's a lot of kids there," Jo rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, not like _this_ kid. He's family," Sam winced a bit at that.

"Family as in 'hunters' or as in -" Ellen's eyes ticked between the two of them.

"Flesh and blood," Dawn answered.

"Damn John Winchester," Ellen shook her head. "Man kept more secrets than God himself."

"Not this time," Sam frowned.

"Then -"

"It's Dean's 'flesh and blood', Mama," Jo said quietly, shifting her eyes away from Sam's pained expression.

"We're trying to keep it quiet. And if Sam and I hang out around here long enough -" Dawn took a breath. "That demon hag Ruby will show her corpse-girl face and then all hell might have to break loose."

"Who is it?" Jo asked. "The kid, not the demon-hag."

"He's nine, name's Ben Braeden. Lisa, his mom, kept his real paternity from Dean when he went to reconnect during the Changeling case the guys handled last year," Dawn watched as Jo's face tightened, much as it had when they'd had to break the news about Dean's death. "Only Bobby, Sam, myself, and Willow know about him. We're trying to keep it that way, and short of an Unbreakable Vow -"

"A what?" Ellen frowned at her.

"Sorry, HP reference," Dawn shook her head, lightening the gloomy expression on Sam's face for half a second. "Anyway. Short of a magic spell to keep it hush-hush, we knew you two could keep it close to the chest. And you're both fairly far off the radar where demons are concerned. Dean's gone, so they won't try and get at him through Jo. And you've never done serious, consistent hunting so you're safe -"

"Except for running the Roadhouse, which was targeted by demons and got every hunter in there killed," Ellen said thickly.

"You know enough to make you capable, not enough to make you dangerous," Dawn countered. "It's asking a lot, I know -"

"We'll do it," Jo said quietly, shocking them all.

"Jo, baby -"

"He'd do it for us," she cut her mother off. "Least we can do for all the times he saved me."

"Thanks, Jo," Sam smiled.

* * *

"I hate this place," Jo sighed three weeks later.

"You volunteered us for this job, little girl," Ellen chuckled as she dried her hands on the dish towel.

Dawn had insisted that since she'd been the one to ask the favor that the Harvelles' let her supply the house they'd be living in. Ellen hadn't cared for that idea at first, but it kept them close to the boy and his mama. And Dawn had looked awfully gleeful at the idea of spending money that apparently belonged to her good-for-nothing biological father.

"That woman has to have the most boring life in the world," Jo groaned. "Get up at five a.m., get the kid to school, teach yoga, plant damn flowers. My God, I wanna claw my eyes out!"

"Not everybody lives and breathes workin' in a bar," Ellen shook her head.

"Mama, you _cannot_ make me believe that you and Daddy ever lived like that," Jo lifted her head from the kitchen island.

"Not exactly like Lisa's, no," Ellen gave her daughter a small smile. "But for a while, before you were born and your Daddy and I lost friends to demons, we had a bit of normal. Damn near regular routine and everything."

"Just go on shatterin' my world," Jo frowned.

"Nobody's twistin' your arm and making you tail her constantly, Jo."

"I'm not tailing _her_," Jo narrowed her eyes. "And it's a protective detail on the kid, not tailin'."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," Ellen shrugged.

"Shit, the little imp's on the move," Jo sighed, her watch beeping. She wasn't asking Summers where the hell she got the tech to track the kid, but she was damn grateful for it. Especially when he tended to go off his routine at the drop of a hat. Just like his daddy.

* * *

Ben had just slipped through the hedges in order to sneak off the park. His mom normally tracked him down before he could slip away, but she was busy with a phone call and thought he was in the living room playing one of his games. Ever since that girl had come to tell them that Dean had died, his mom had been acting weird. Even weirder than when they'd been attacked by the Changelings.

The park was only five blocks away, and a bunch of kids were meeting up there today. He already had a freak status because he was the new kid in town. And if he didn't show, nobody would want to hang out with the Mama's Boy. Ben's jaw clenched as he ran farther up the block. He didn't even notice the dark haired teenager he plowed into until it was too late to stop himself.

"Hey, you okay, buddy?" a small chuckle came from the teenage boy who steadied him by his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah."

"You in a rush?"

"Yeah, friends are waiting for me," Ben tensed as he stared up at the older boy.

"Does your sister know where you were going?" he asked, nodding at someone over Ben's shoulder.

Ben frowned, glancing out over his shoulder and half-expecting to see his mother. Instead, he saw the blonde woman who lived down the street with Miss Ellen. He liked Miss Ellen. She always snuck him a soda and a candy bar when she spotted him sneaking through her backyard. Which was pretty weird. Nice, but weird.

"Ben Braeden, aren't you supposed to be home by now?" she frowned at him, a lot like Miss Ellen did at her back when she wasn't looking.

"Uh-oh, first and last name. But you must not be in too much trouble, or else the middle name would have come out too," the teenager chuckled. "I'm Blaine Anderson. It's my fault he's so late getting back."

"She's just my neighbor," Ben frowned at her.

"I'm Jo Harvelle," Jo crossed her arms. "And do you want your mom worrying about you?"

"She's right, you wouldn't want her worried," Blaine nodded.

"Fine, ruin my life!" Ben muttered. "Nosy grown-ups."


	15. Recap: Bring Out Your Dead

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Recap: Bring Out Your Dead  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing… Joss owns the Buffy, Kripke owns the SPN.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected 'verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: When Dean Met Dawn. Pretty much.  
A/N: Set post-season three, pre-au!season four. My revenge on Kripke for making me get drunk the night of season 5's finale. And I _never_ get drunk. Seriously had a Slushie Cosmo the size of my head. And a headache to match the next morning.

_**Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports**  
Recap: Bring Out Your Dead_

~*~_  
Where do your passengers wait…_

Dawn was staring at a dead man. Literally. The call had gone up months ago that Dean Winchester had kicked the bucket. Her beer hit the table with a thud. She was pretty sure her jaw had dropped with it. She'd seen Sam just after Dean had died, and the boy had been utterly wasted in despair. A feeling she was familiar with, having gone through it herself when she'd watched Buffy die for her. Which was why she'd taken the slightly older hunter under her wing before he could self-destruct.

Dawn wasn't normally violent by…scratch that, she _had_ grown up around Buffy and the Scoobies. Still, that didn't explain why she'd slugged the man seconds after seeing and recognizing him as Sam's dead older brother. She'd shocked herself and them. It was kind of empowering, really.

"Dude, the hell?" Dean shook his head to clear the cobwebs from it and to keep the stars and birdies from floating through his vision.

"Summers, what's gotten into you?" Sam directed his wounded puppy look at her.

"_What the fuck did you do, Winchester_? I leave you alone for two days to go welcome my nephew into the world, and you resurrect your zombie-brother?" Dawn spat, turning her anger on Sam who was looking at her like she'd full-on Linda Blair'd on him.

"Do not tell me this bitch is _Ruby_ in a new skin-suit, bro," Dean snapped, leveling Sam with a glare of his own.

"Oi, dead boy," Dawn snapped at him, getting big brother's attention. "We will not be mentioning the Hell-ho in my presence."

"She's not Ruby, Dean," Sam looked guiltily in his direction.

"Hell-ho? So, you're not playing for the Dark side?"

"Pfft, those bastards lied about the cookies," Dawn rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping off of her words

"So who are you, how do you know about Ruby, and why the hell did you smack me?" Dean got a little aggressive and scary, and damn if it didn't turn her on a bit. She'd definitely been spending too much time with Faith.

"A. Get out of my face. 2. Wait, never mind. I'm Summers Comma Dawn and I'm the girl who's been keeping the Puppy from the Dark side and their lying non-cookies. 3. or C, for whatever version you're following, I know about Ruby because she was wearing the skin of a fallen Slayer under my command named Honor Standish, and I don't like sneaky demons wearing my friends like a meat puppet. Do you know what it's like to find a picture of a girl you buried popping up as Jane Doe in some craptastic little town's paper? It sucks beyond the telling. And finally, because you fucked with fate and traded your life for your brother's, after you ripped him from a good place," Tears glittered in her eyes by the time she'd finished her hushed speech. "You don't fuck over family. You don't hide what you're feeling, even if you are some macho balls-to-the-floor hunter with a chip the size of Texas on your shoulder."

Sam looked pained, and Dean was pretty sure his jaw had hit the floor before the balls comment coming out of the pretty brunette's mouth. His mouth hung open for a few minutes as he watched her angrily toss back the rest of her beer, barely noticing the wince as she slammed the bottle down with it.

He cleared his throat and glanced back over at Sam. When he and Bobby had met up with Sam in the hotel, his little brother hadn't said squat about Ruby still kicking after her round with Lilith. Of course, he also hadn't mentioned the feisty brunette he'd shacked up with. The hot, feisty brunette at that.

"How did you meet this one?" Dean bristled, actually a little jealous of his brother's luck with said girl.

"Dude, she's way too young for you," Sam gave his brother a knowing look.

"Not what I asked, Sammy," Dean shrugged, pausing for a minute. "How young?"

"Miller vouched for her, and Bobby vouched for Miller."

"Soldier boy?" Dean made a face. "How'd he hook up with Jailbait?"

"Hey, asshole, 'Jailbait' can hear you," Dawn rolled her eyes at him. "And I'll have you know, Graham's interests are solely in my older sister, which I am thoroughly happy for. She deserves happy smoochies for saving the damn world. And Bobby absolutely loves me."

"Ugh."

A firm smack landed - well, affectionately, for Bobby, - on the back of Dean's head as the image he'd gotten seared into his brain. Dawn made a face at him, closer to a sneer.

"Like a daughter, perv. Not every guy I meet stares at my boobs and gets Cro-Magnon on me."

"Thank God," popped from his lips with such vehemence that it even shocked Dean.

There was a heavy silence as they all stared at him like he'd grown three heads. Sam and Bobby were exchanging looks and Dawn actually blushed a bit at that statement. Oddly enough it was Dawn who brought them all back to task.

"Anyway, since I _know_ Sam's not been dipping into the dark arts to bring your ass back to the realm of the living, and Bobby isn't stupid enough to even think on it, who the hell dragged you out of Hell?" Dawn frowned at him. "Ruby wouldn't be so bold to do it, not with Lilith still giddy from ganking you and crushing Hell-ho under her heel. Which means…"

"We need some insight pronto."

"Why does this stink of the PtB's?" Dawn groaned, pushing herself up from her seat. She slipped the keys to her car from her pocket. "C'mon, losers and Bobby. We got a mystery to solve."

~*~  
_Even bad wolves can be good…_

She was giggling. Again. At something _Sammy_ said. Dean groaned and turned over on his other side, away from where Sam and Dawn were laughing at something on Sammy's laptop. Bobby had left an hour ago to make contact with some psychic he knew, to see if they could get a lead on whoever brought Dean back to life. So here he was, stuck in a hotel room with Sammy and this Dawn chick.

"I know, isn't he just the cutest?" Dawn was saying. "He's my honorary nephew. Oh, and Buffy's finally picked a date. About damn time, too."

"What's his name?" Sam asked.

"There's was a big ole argument about that before I left. Samantha's all for naming him Jack, Riley wants to name him Stephen for somebody he knows who died last year, while Buffy and I strongly recommended Larry. Poor, poor gay Larry," Dawn flopped back and glanced over at Dean in the other bed. "I threw your name in the hat for giggles, but it was _strongly_ rejected."

"Hat for what? Naming someone's pet labradoodle?" Dean snapped.

"No, for naming my friend Samantha's new baby boy. Quit being a douche bag," Dawn huffed, throwing a pillow at him. "It's not a pretty look on you."

"Why do _you_ get to name your friend's kid?"

"Because she's recently divorced, has no family, and she really, really likes us?"

"I suggested Bobby, but they shot me down," Bobby said, kicking the door shut. "How is Samantha doing?"

"Other than Riley having a pissing match with Graham over the engagement to Buffy? She's happy. Any luck on the seer front?" Dawn bounced up on the bed, and Dean was averting his damn eyes off her chest. What the hell?

"Finn needs to get over it," Bobby slapped the phone book down on the table. "Missouri's having nothing to do with you boys, and hung up on me more than once. Didn't have any luck with Lorne either."

"Lorne hasn't been the same since Fred and Wes…" Dawn took a shuddering breath, revealing how young and fragile she was and Dean had a strong urge to scoop her up and fix whatever it was. And he hadn't had that urge since Layla.

"I know of one -"

The door shook with a resounding bang, and all three hunters reached for a weapon. Dawn hopped off the bed she was sharing with Sammy and yanked the door open without even looking through the peep-hole. At least she was carrying a small hand-axe that Dean hadn't seen a few minutes ago. Where the hell had she strapped that bad boy?

"Mini-B, we got serious shit flyin', and no, I ain't talkin about the shit with B and G, and Captain Cardboard." a dark haired woman shoved her way past Dawn, her eyes taking in the room. She grinned saucily at Bobby and Sam, but frowned when she spotted Dean. "Huh."

"Faith, come in. No, it's not an intrusion. So good to see you too," Dawn sighed, shaking her head. "Aren't you supposed to be in Cleveland?"

"I was until dead folk started popping up, like Winchester here."

"Dead _folk_, as in, more than one?" Dawn straightened, starting to shut the door shut. A hand pressed against it, drawing Dawn's attention to it. "Holy fuck."

"Good to see you too, Summers," a woman with blonde and purple streaked hair smiled broadly at her. Her blue eyes locked on Bobby and Dean. "Don't fuck up Pamela's eyes, Bobby. Castiel gripped him tight and pulled him from perdition. His words, not mine."

"Who the hell is Castiel?" Dean asked, rising from the bed.

"Who else came back? Folks equals more than two, Faith," Dawn demanded at the same time, shoving Dean back down on the bed so he wouldn't crowd the younger woman.

Dean growled at this, and tried to rise again to ask who this Castiel joker was, but Dawn shoved him back again. When he tried a third time, she gave up and actually sat on him.

"Demon girl's back. And that techno-wiz Willow chatted up before the Roadhouse blew to hell," Faith shrugged.

"Mom? Tara?" Dawn whispered, but Faith shook her head sadly. Dean felt the tremor go through her. "Amanda? Molly? Wesley? Cordelia?"

"No, none of the Potentials came back. Just Anya, Cassie, Ash and Winchester."

"Why them? No offense, Cassie," Dawn said to the other girl. "But how can we be sure they're not manifestations of the First?"

"She's solid, D. And apparently, so is Winchester. You're sittin' on him," Faith smirked. Dawn shifted on his lap at the look.

"First? First what?" Dean asked, hoping she'd stop squirming on his lap soon, because he couldn't be held responsible for his body's reactions.

"First evil," Cassie, Faith and Dawn all answered, looking at him like he was an utter idiot for even asking.

"Wouldn't that be the Devil?" Sam asked, staring at the three women.

"No, you idiot," Dawn said affectionately. "Lucifer was an angel, and angels weren't given Free Will. That's why humans are so different from angels and demons. Well, hell-spawn possessor-demons don't have free will. Most of them follow orders like lemmings."

"Then how did Lucifer 'fall'?" he asked, staring at Bobby and Dawn for the answer.

"The First put a little niggling idea into his head. When he made that bitch, Lilith, he bound her will to his. Every demon ever since has been the same way. Bound to one master. Just like the angels are bound to God, I guess," Bobby shrugged.

"Yup."

"But _angels_?"

"What do you think Castiel is?" Cassie spoke up.

They all seemed awestruck at this comment. Cassie shrugged and plopped down on the bed Dawn had been on with Sam. She kicked her feet up and crossed her arms behind her head.

"An _angel_ pulled _Dean Winchester_ out of hell?" Dawn shook her head. "Why?"

"Same reason he yanked Ash and me out of heaven, and Anya out of the ether," Cassie said tiredly. "We're needed for something."

"Like what?" Dawn snorted. "No offense. And Winchester, that had better be your keys I'm feeling."

"Hey, _you_ sat on me. Did you get re-hymenized too?" Dean asked, glancing over at Cassie.

"I died when I was sixteen. I never popped my cherry in the first place," Cassie snorted.

"Okay, overshare, ugh," Dawn said, jumping off of Dean's lap. But she was blushing brightly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Cassie jerked upright gasping painfully. Her eyes seemed to glow a little.

"Did you guys know you have a little brother? Because that boy is about to be in some serious shit. Like pronto."

"What?"

"There's another one of them? I haven't even gotten _Sam_ housebroken yet!" Dawn groaned, leaning against Bobby.

~*~  
_Follow the voice that's calling you home…_

Dawn was in the damn backseat and it was pissing her the hell off. She was glaring at the back of his head so hard that he'd started scratching at his hair every three minutes or so. It made her kind of happy inside knowing that she irritated the hell out of him.

"Why the hell does my car smell fruity?" Dean snapped, catching her eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Because the stench of month old burritos were making me vomit a little every day," Dawn snapped.

"How the hell do you put up with this chick, Sammy?"

"Dean -" Sam sighed as Dawn cut him off.

"_Excuse me_?"

"Look, chick -"

"The name is _Dawn_. If that's too hard for you to spit out of your stupid mouth -"

"_My_ stupid mouth?"

"Oh my god!" Sam yelled before they could start bickering. "Pull the car over, now!"

Dean, still being a little jumpy from his recent resurrection, slammed on the breaks. Faith's horn blared behind them as she swerved to avoid hitting them.

"What _the hell_, Sam?" Dean whipped around to glare at his brother.

"I need out of this car. I'll hitch a ride with Faith and Cassie, thanks very much."

Sam snapped his laptop shut, jerked open the passenger side door and slipped out into the inky black night. Dawn leaned forward to stop him, but Sam actually _slammed_ the door in her face and _ran_ back to Faith's car.

"Did my brother just _bail_ on me _hours_ after I returned from the dead?" Dean gaped back at his brother's retreating form.

"After all I've done for that stupid little puppy!" Dawn huffed, sinking back into her seat.

Faith honked her horn again and pulled around and in front of them. Apparently, since the slayer had both the Seer and the puppy with his directions, their car would be taking over this little caravan.

"I'm not drivin' Miss Daisy. Get your ass up front," Dean muttered.

"Nope. Drive on, Jeeves," Dawn crossed her arms over her chest.

Muttering under his breath, Dean hit the gas. He enjoyed her little squeal of discomfort as she slid across the backseat. She growled at him - like a puppy, really, and hit him hard in the head with a shoe. While he was driving.

"Do _not _make me pull over and paddle your ass -"

"Not my kind of kink, dead boy," Dawn chirped. "And you sound like an old man when you say shit like that."

"Better than sounding like a five year old," Dean muttered.

Dean ignored her as best as he could. Honest to God, he did. Until her foot started pounding on the back of his seat. He slammed on the brakes and enjoyed her squeal of shock as she fell forward _again_. She was muttering under her breath as he yanked the rear passenger door open and pulled her from the car. Dawn gaped at him, having a sinking feeling the bastard was going to leave her on the side of the road. Luckily for him - because she would _so_ kick his ass if he'd done that - he pushed her into the front seat instead.

They drove in silence for few good minutes until Dawn started making noises at him. He blared the music louder, ignoring her. She frowned at him and snapped the music off.

"Driver picks the music -"

"And the manhandled pick the conversation topics, so shut it," Dawn snapped.

"We're not having a conversation," Dean reached for the dials.

"Are you pissy because your Dad kept another bombshell from you and Sam, or are you pissy because you just crawled out of hell?" Dawn narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not pissy. Chicks get pissy -"

"Congratulations, you're a chick!"

"Neither," Dean clenched his jaw.

"I'm calling bullshit."

"Don't care."

"You should. You should be pissed off that someone's pulling your strings, that your dad kept a bombshell of secret from you -"

"What the hell does it change?"

"_Everything_," Dawn hissed out. "Finding out you have family that could be in a life threatening situation and that you've been powerless to _help_ them should make your heart hurt! Sam's told me what your _Dad's_ kept from you, what _Ruby's_ hinted at about your Mom. What's your dad been whispering in your baby brother's ears for the last -"

"Shut the hell up about my dad," Dean snapped. "You don't know _anything_ about my father."

"I know that he screwed you and Sam up - just like my dad screwed me and my sister up. Mine conveniently disappeared to Spain - your's robbed you both of a childhood, and god only knows what he's done to this Adam kid," Dawn shook her head.

She didn't speak for the rest of that night's worth of driving. Three hours of complete silence, if you didn't count her fingers pounding against her phone's Qwerty keypad. Which he wasn't, and he left his music at the minimal volume for his own sanity.

"Why the hell do you care?" Dean asked quietly as he pulled into the lot of the no-tell motel Faith had parked in.

"Huh?" Dawn asked drowsily.

"Why the hell do you care so much about my family?"

"I saw Sam after you died, and it was _hell_. I walked through that hell myself when my mom and my sister died," Dawn said quietly. "I _saw_ both of your faces when Cassie told you about your dad's secret. And I hate that it hurt you both, even if I don't particularly like you."

"You hot for my brother?" Dean flicked a gaze at her, not quite teasing, because he honestly wanted to know what was in it for her.

"Maybe I'm hot for you," Dawn smirked evilly, popping her door open. "Or maybe, I'm just in it for a chance to seduce Bobby."

"I'm going to be _ill_."

* * *

She didn't have the answers he wanted. Not even for her own sanity. She loved Sam, it was true. But he was the kid brother - and yes, she knew he was technically older than her - she'd never have. He was her Dawnie. Someone who needed to be protected, even if he didn't think so. Especially because he didn't think he needed protecting.

Who would Sam have become if Dawn hadn't stepped into his life? What would have happened if he'd faced that creeping darkness and Ruby all by himself? Dawn glanced back over her shoulder at Dean, who was shaking his head at her.

Sure, she'd only been kidding when she said that maybe she was hot for him. Truth be told, she kind of was. Maybe it was Buffy's past coming back to haunt her. She'd crushed on dead guys before. It was probably a genetic trait.

The bigger question was this: how would Dawn fit in now that Dean was back? And could any of the Winchesters be trusted to their own devices? Dawn chuckled. Who was she kidding? They so needed her!


	16. Other Choices We Were Busy Making

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Other Choices We Were Busy Making  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing… Henson owns the Labyrinth, Murphy owns Glee, Kripke owns Supernatural.  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected 'verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Rachel's conception and birth revealed.  
A/N: I am sick and twisted. I think I need help. Seriously. Also, I blame this idea _totally on _the miniseries _Fallen_, and the guy who played Azazel (sp?). Who looks frighteningly like the two characters mentioned.

_**Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports**  
Other Choices We Were Busy Making_

_1993_

A vase made of the bones of one of his most loyal goblins came flying at him. Jareth, the Goblin King, tipped his head to the side to avoid it from meeting his head in a rather spectacular crash. She was absolutely gorgeous in her rage, just as she had been in her innocence nearly six years ago when she'd first come to his Labyrinth in search of her brother. And her swollen abdomen containing his heir made her even more fabulous to watch. Hoggle, in his new human form along with his lover, cowered behind the throne, watching as she raged on.

"How _dare_ you do this to me, Jareth!" Sarah Williams screamed, her hands resting protectively on where their child dreamed. Odd that he knew the infant was dreaming. Did she know it as well? "How _dare_ you use _Hoggle_ like this! How dare you use _me_!"

"Hoggle was quite eager to partake of my offer, Sarah," Jareth crooned, reaching out to her and to their child, lured closer by the dreams.

"Don't even _think_ of touching me!" Sarah cried, physically shrinking back from his touch. "You seduced me and you want _my child_ as payment for letting Hoggle have his freedom?"

"_Letting_ him? You and your silly little _imagination_ have been letting _my_ people slip across the boundary between worlds for half a decade!" Jareth's wrath grew as her revulsion of his actions grew. "And had you not _stolen_ my first heir -"

"Toby? You lied to me, blackmailed my friends, and got me pregnant because you couldn't have my little brother as your heir for the goblin throne?" Sarah looked ill. "I - I can't even _believe_ you would _stoop_ to something so evil as this! If I wouldn't give up my half-brother, what the _hell_ makes you think I would give up my _child_?"

"She is already half-Goblin - half _mine_," Jareth countered, a sneer rising on his lips. "And we all know how much you despise my kind."

"No, it's just _you_ I choose to despise!" Sarah turned and fled, leaving Hoggle and his lover alone to face Jareth's wrath.

He whipped around to face his two former subjects, who cowered before him. Seething at her rejection of him - _yet again_ - he spoke quietly to them.

"You will get my heir from her, by hook or by crook," Jareth hissed.

"But - but how can we do that to _Sarah_ -" Hoggle mumbled.

"Have you forgotten that I have given you everything, _Hoggle_? That I alone am responsible for the skin the pair of you wear? And that _I_ alone, can keep you in that skin? Or would you prefer to be dropped down into the Oubliette or to be made the princes of the Bog of Eternal Stench?"

"Not the Bog of Eternal Stench!" Hoggle shook, remembering his close call nearly eight years ago.

"Now, now Jareth, is that really necessary?"

"Leave me," Jareth spat at his two subjects. He leveled a glare at the man sprawled across his throne. "Trickster."

"Jareth. Sticks and stones -"

"What do you want?"

"Only to help a very old friend."

"A friend? Are we friends now? When have we ever been?" Jareth glanced over at the two cowering forms. "What are you waiting for? I told you to leave!"

Hoggle and Leroy raced from their King's growing wrath. It was best to not stay and overhear whatever it was this Trickster had to say. Jareth glared at him over the top of his folded hands.

"Well, _Gabriel_, come out with it."

"You know the child cannot be raised in this realm," Gabriel sat across from him in an opulent throne he'd conjured from thin air. Jareth frowned at him.

"How is it that you know this?"

"Hello, all-seeing ex-angel. I know my stuff," Gabriel grinned.

"So the child cannot be reared in the realm of the Goblin king -"

"Not if you want her to grow up into her powers like you did."

"Sarah cannot rear the child. If she does, she will poison the girl against her heritage," Jareth said quietly.

"Stealing children away always was your forte."

"There are those who would steal my kingdom. I cannot lose a second heir."

"No, you can't. Not if you want to keep the Goblin realm safe from the Heavenly or Hellish Hosts."

"Those two," Jareth frowned, thinking of Hoggle and Leroy. "They could take the child and raise her where Sarah would never find her."

"It's the only way to keep both Sarah and the child safe until it's time."

"This will win me no favor with either women when the truth is revealed."

"That shouldn't matter, not with what could potentially happen to the world if you have an heir with an extremely closed mind."

"Can you arrange it then?"

"Neither one will ever remember the other."

"A girl will certainly wonder about her mother in a household with two fathers," Jareth rolled his eyes at Gabriel.

"Those two will treat her like the princess she is. It'll only be a passing thought at best. I'll take care of their memories."

"And what price will you charge me for this act of kindness?"

"Sanctuary, when I need it," Gabriel grinned.


	17. Recap: Meet the Family

Series Title: Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports  
Title: Recap: Meet the Family  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Buffy, not Doctor Who, not Glee, not Labyrinth, nor Supernatural. (Or The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, which is where Jareth gets his song.)  
Series Summary: Tales from the Resurrected 'verse. Bits and insights to other characters mentioned in previous installments.  
Summary: Dean and Dawn go in search of yet another Winchester brother, but get pulled into an entirely different family dilemma.  
A/N: These bits were originally published in my 25 for 25 collection. They are now smushed together and highlighted with new info to make more sense in the cohesive universe that is Resurrected.

_**Angel Baiting and Other Contact Sports**  
Recap: Meet the Family_

~*~  
_Get by with a little help…_

"She doesn't need a hood ornament, blondie," Dean snapped, wiping the hood of the Impala and checking for phantom scratches.

"I have a name, you know," the blonde with the British accent that automatically reminded him too much of Bela glared at him.

"Yeah, and I'm not here so I can hear it. Don't you have class to attend or something?" Dean glared right back at her. Jenny huffed and marched over to where her friend was waiting. It was moments like these that he kind of hated Cassie for sending Sam and Faith in the opposite direction to help Bobby. Instead, he slumped back into the car and leaned back.

"You look like a creeper, you know," Dawn sighed from beside him, her own head tilted back to catch the last few warm rays of autumn sunshine.

"Yeah, well what am I supposed to do, go up to the kid and say 'hey, we share a dead-beat dad, who by the way is really _dead_'? Cause I don't see that flying over too well."

"Okay, if you're gonna be all PMS-y on me, I'm gonna go hang with alien girl," Dawn huffed, jerking upright.

"Damn it, Dawnie!" Dean growled, reaching for her. Dawn let him pull her as close as possible, resting his head in her hair as he counted to five. "One surprise baby brother a year is a lot for a dead guy to handle. Two's kinda pushing my limit on the damn-dad meter, you know?"

"You're not dead anymore, jerk," Dawn muttered, elbowing him for saying it. Again. "You're going to have to eventually talk to him, you know."

"Kid seems happy. Kinda," Dean sighed. "What the hell is up with his hair though?"

"Weird hair choices run in your 'family', Sam and Ash are prime examples," Dawn chuckled.

Before he could respond to that mini-attack on his brother and friend, there was a quick succession of raps on the window. Dawn jerked away from him like they'd been caught going at it in the backseat. Not that they _hadn't_ before. He bit back a grin at that, and rolled down his window to face the brunette girl who had her hands on her hips.

"You rang?" Dean gave her a charm-filled smirk that worked plenty of times before on young things like her.

"I just wanted to inform you that there is a strict no loitering law here, especially when it comes to those ogling innocent young football players," the brunette frowned at them.

"Dean, isn't that -"

"Berry, what the hell?" the boy with the short Mohawk jerked to a stop behind her.

Another boy, who reminded Dean of Sammy as a kid what with the puppy face and confusion, skidded right next to him. "Didn't you ever hear of Stranger Danger, Rach?"

"Of course I have, Finn! However, this man has been staring at Noah for over a half hour. And while I have nothing against the sacred bond of male love, I find it highly disturbing that an older and presumably wiser man would stoop to targeting innocent young football players."

Dawn let out a snort of laughter at both 'Noah' and Dean's expressions. Noah looked at him warily. Dean opened and shut his mouth a few times. Rachel stared at Dawn like she was crazy, and the other boy looked confused.

"I don't swing that way," Dean and Noah said at the exact same time, identical looks of abused masculine pride almost kind of eerie.

"Puck, is that your dad?" Finn frowned.

"Hell no!" Once again, it was said at the same time. Dawn cackled away beside him. "You're not helping, Summers!"

"Oh, it's too friggin much! Sammy is definitely the changeling child in the family! You, Adam and -"

"Wait - _family_?" the girl looked between the two of them, placing her hand on Noah's arm, her eyes widening as she took in the posturing of both men. "Oh my -"

"Don't tell me John Winchester actually gives a crap about his kids now?" Noah bristled.

"Your father's reputation precedes you, it seems," Dawn shook her head. John Winchester had apparently given all four of his sons similar chips the size of Texas.

"Wait, if _he's _not your dad, who is he?" Finn frowned.

"His half-brother, one of three that Noah has," Dawn supplied, quietly twining her fingers through Dean's for support.

"Wow, that explains so much about you," Finn muttered without thinking.

Noah whipped around fast and decked Finn. He stumbled back into the dirt, eliciting a small cry from Rachel. He turned back to the car and leaned down to the window, giving them an icy stare that they were all too familiar with - because Dean had often given it to Dawn.

"You stay away from me, my family, and my gi - school, or I will show you how badass I am," Noah hissed. He stomped off, and Rachel actually seemed torn between going after him or helping up the slightly battered Finn.

"Stay with uh, Finn?" Dawn called to her, easing out of the passenger seat. She quickly rounded the car and nodded to Dean. "Go after your brother. He's as hard-headed as Sammy. Honestly, can't there be at least one rational Winchester?"

"No," Dean sighed, shoving his door open and placing a kiss on the top of her head before he started after Noah.

"I - I'm not sure he should go after Noah by himself," Rachel murmured, helping Finn to his feet. "He didn't lie about his reputation as a ..well, bad-ass."

"Just another fine Winchester trait," Dawn rolled her eyes. "And I actually consider procreating with one of them. You too, apparently."

"What?" Rachel blushed, looking away nervously at Finn. Things had just started to settle with them without her betrayal of feelings. Quinn had already done that to him once. And yet…

"No, that'd be my ex girlfriend," Finn groaned, saving her from having to answer.

"Wow. He is so much like Dean and John it's kind of like scary cloning."

~*~  
_Don't see what anyone can see…_

Puck fought the urge to kick the bleachers. He was fine without his dead-beat dad's kids jumping in to be all family bonding time with him. He had to deal with Finn hating his guts for the baby, Quinn wanting nothing to do with him, and Berry - god knew how Berry felt about him or how he felt about her. To top it all off, he'd had to see that look in his mother's face when he'd reveal just how much he was like his fathers.

Right now, he was itching for a fight that socking Finn's jaw wouldn't satisfy. So he waited for the crunch of the gravel beneath the bleachers that signaled Dean' arrival.

"Look, I know you want nothing to do with me kid, but I had to come and warn you," Dean, his half-brother squinted in the sunlight.

"Warn me that I have a douche bag for a dad or that I had one for a brother?" Noah gritted out.

"You're pissed, I get that, more than you know. He was a bastard who kept us all outta the loop. I've already had to have this conversation twice before, so you ain't spitting out anything new, Noah," Dean clenched his jaw and stepped a half-foot away from the kid. "But he's gone. And you, and our brothers and that hot chick tooling around in my car with me are all I got right now."

"Why the hell do you care about me? I'm nothing to you."

"Bullshit. I might not know you, but you are my brother," Dean cursed under his breath. "He's dead, and I just found out about you."

Some of the steam was taken from Noah's anger. Hating your dad for being a deadbeat was one thing - realizing he wasn't even around to hate was another.

"What?"

"Three years ago," Dean's jaw tightened. "He died saving my ass."

"And that makes you responsible for everyone else now or something?" Noah shook his head.

"I'm the oldest, of course it makes me responsible for you, Sammy and Adam."

Noah tried to picture the faces that would go with those names, for some dumb ass reason. He shouldn't care that he had brothers. He shouldn't care that they had names, weight to them. It made them too damn real.

"You got Dad's coloring, so does Sam. Adam and me, we favor our moms," Dean smiled at that. "Damn stubborn like him too."

"He beat the shit out of my step-dad when he wanted to use my sister as a punching bag," Noah cleared his throat, looking away from his brother. "Leah wasn't much more than a baby. She used to whisper that he was her real daddy too."

Noah didn't admit that he used to wish - on those really bad nights - that John had been her dad too, so he could come and take them all away to be a real family.

"Sounds like Dad. Sweep in and play the hero," Dean swallowed and glanced away from Noah.

"What did you need to warn me about?"

"Not really sure. This girl I know - she thinks she's a psychic. And, well, she just might be, cause everything she's predicted has come true -"

Noah was just about to call bullshit on him when the sounds of a catfight hit his ears. Dean scowled past him and Noah craned his neck to see Dawn trying to pull Quinn away from where Finn and Berry were standing. Shit.

"Shit," Dean muttered at the same moment. "Definitely a Winchester trait."

They both raced back to where the four were huddled, but before they could get close enough, creatures started darting forward. They zigged and zagged, forming around where Rachel and Finn were standing. Dean swore harshly and ran harder towards them. Noah was frozen in his tracks as the mini whirlwind of creatures threw Finn to the side and he heard Rachel's scream cut off in the middle. Dawn had stepped between Quinn, protecting the child she carried.  
The wind rushed in and out faster than it took Noah to close the distance to where Rachel's bag hung limply on the driver's side mirror on Dean's car. Finn blinked in confusion, his jaw hanging open and Dawn was glaring at Quinn.

"What the fuck happened, Summers?" Dean shouted.  
"Where's Rachel?" Finn croaked out.  
"I didn't mean it," Quinn whimpered, her eyes huge as she stared at the spot where Rachel had been.  
"Didn't mean _what_?" Noah whipped around to face her. "What did you do?"  
"Calm down, Noah," Dawn licked her lips, looking up at Dean. "She wished Rachel away. I couldn't stop her."  
"You did _what_?" Dean stared at the girl, his eyes comically wide.

"She wished that Rachel be taken away by the Goblin King."

_~*~  
Couldn't drag me away…_

Rachel Berry screeched as she was dropped unceremoniously on her butt in a cavernous throne room. Goblins cackled around her, quickly pulling away from her. It seemed even goblins didn't like to associate themselves with her. She bit her lip and carefully pulled her knees closer to her chest. Her hands stung from slapping the graveled ground beneath her, and she ached from the drop.

Eyes peered around her from around the now nearly deserted room, blinking silently at her. Maybe she deserved this punishment for what she'd said and done to hurt Finn, Quinn and Noah. Maybe that was why someone had told Quinn to make that horrible wish.

"_Hush, my little one, you must be exhausted_!" A tall, dashingly pirate-looking man with blonde hair sang at her. "_Rest my little goblin, let your dreams take wing. One day when you're finally grown, you will be a queen_!"

Rachel's mouth hung open in shock as she recognized the song he was modifying to his needs. Before another word could escape his lips, she stuck out a hand to silence him. His mouth tightened in an annoyed expression - she was _Rachel Berry_ after all, she'd come to recognize the look of annoyance she got from nearly everyone.

"While I do commend you on your simply marvelous singing voice, I'm sorry that I have to say I am quite appalled at your song selection," Rachel pushed herself up off the ground and stared at the middle of his chest. "After all the whirlwind special effects and seizing me with your numerous goblin minions in broad daylight, I would have thought you'd pick a better song to sway my allegiance."

"Do you know who you're talking to, little girl?" the pirate man in extremely tight trousers narrowed his eyes at her.

"The Goblin King. You are who Quinn made the wish to," Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "And that won't make me forget that your choice of Disney ballad came from a _direct-to-video_ sequel. I, at the very least, deserve a song selection from one of their blockbuster theatrical hits."

Puck was going out of his mind now, pacing back and forth as Rachel's fathers piled out of the car, a tall hot brunette chick behind them. Dawn Summers did a double take at the woman before smiling brightly at her.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for my daughter. Toby didn't tell me you were in Lima."

"We weren't supposed to be, but Cassie had one of her little insights. Me and the lunkhead headed over here. Uh, you have a daughter?" Dawn shook her head, not really getting it.

"It's a really long and complicated story," Sarah's eyes welled up with tears. "You haven't seen her, have you?"

"Berry's _your_ daughter?" Puck blurted out, drawing both of their eyes to him.

"Huh?" Dawn frowned. "How do you know that?"

"She drove up with Berry's fathers," Puck fidgeted, something he'd never normally do. But right now, Berry - _Rachel_ - was gone and it was partially his fault. The light finally clicked on in his brother's girlfriend's head.

"Shit!" Dawn muttered.

"What's wrong? Where's our little sparkle gone to?" Her Jewish dad asked nervously, clutching at a pouch on his hip.

"We had a slight. . . mishap, involving a wish and -"

"Goblins took her away," Puck blurted. "But I'm gonna get her back."

"We're gonna get her back," Dean clapped him on the shoulder, eager to kill something.

"He found her," Sarah's breath came in sharp gulps, and the Misters Berry both looked nauseous. "He's got her in his goblin kingdom, and we could scream ourselves hoarse but he won't come and let us save her in the thirteen hours."

"I think we can remedy that," Dawn cracked her knuckles and turned to the small group behind her. "Oi, blondie!"

"I _do_ have a name, you know!" Jenny, the hot blonde talking to Hummel shouted back at her.

"Your Dad still have that blue thing of his, Jenny?"

"As if I'd travel without it," Jenny's Dad snorted.

"Good, because we have a little job for you."

"No one will come for you, you know."

"I didn't actually expect them to," Rachel said quietly after another hour slipped past her on the clock face. He'd told her she had thirteen hours to be rescued, but that none of her friends or family had tried to even plea with him. She would become the heir to his throne.

"You've nothing to pout over. You will become the queen you rightly deserve to be," Jareth frowned at her.

"A star, like I was always meant to be," Rachel's bottom lip quivered a bit.

Neither one expected the loud, distinctive clanging sound that came from one corner of the throne room. A rush of wind blew dust and even a few of the smaller goblins over. Rachel shielded her eyes from the worst of it and heard shouting coming from that direction. She turned back to see Noah charging his way through the throng of defending goblins.

He punted a few of them away, barreling through the rest of them. Rachel's hand flew to her open mouth as she recognized a few of the other people spilling from the large blue box in the corner. The Doctor who'd been hit by Karofsky's slushie earlier in the day, Noah's older half brother Dean and his girlfriend Dawn, Jenny the prospective transfer student and her older cousin Donna that Jacob and Kurt had been leading around school that day, and finally her Father and Daddy. The only person she _didn't_ recognize was the pretty brunette woman who followed hotly on her fathers' footsteps.

"That is cheating, Hoggle, and it is a forfeit!" Jareth roared at her Father, jerking her back.

"As if you weren't already cheating, Jareth?" the brunette woman shouted. "Stealing her away _moments_ before I _remembered_ what you did?"

"She cannot be taken now. I am owed an heir, and you _cheated _Sarah," Jareth's voice softened subtly as the woman was named. It was a tone Rachel had recognized in her own voice many times over. Normally when she was talking about Finn, but lately, it happened when she spoke Noah's name.

"Take me in her place."

Rachel's head spun up at Noah's words. He was mere feet away from her now, his eyes narrowed angrily as he was pushed farther back by some of the more determined goblin minions.

"Noah, you _can't_ mean it!" Rachel gasped. "What about Quinn and the baby? And your brother? Your mother and your sister need you as well."

"Dean'll make sure they're okay. If he tries to bail like our dad, Summers'll make sure he sticks to it," Noah's jaw clenched, and she could see that Dean was angered by his willing sacrifice for her sake.

"Noah, I'm not worth it," Rachel's eyes blurred. "Everyone's better off without me, after all."

"Damn it, Berry! Don't say shit like that!" Noah snapped. "Everyone might have been pissed off at you because of the Sectional's bombshell, but nobody wants you gone for good! Not Finn, Quinn or me - not really. Take me in her place, dude."

"Actually," the Doctor drawled, pulling Rachel and Noah's attention to her. "Jareth was never going to turn her into a Goblin."

"Huh?" Dawn turned her head to the side.

"It all really comes down to a parental custody issue, doesn't it?" the Doctor smirked.

"Not following you, Doctor."

"Well, she's Jareth's daughter after all, and is already _part_ goblin," he looked distinctly annoyed with the fact that goblins existed. "But she's also part human, on Sarah's part."

"Sarah's -" Rachel turned quickly to face the woman. _Her mother_.

"And as such has dual citizenship, so to speak. Rachel can come and go from the Goblin Kingdom as she sees fit. So no one needs to get turned into a goblin today!" the Doctor grinned broadly.

"You have no power over her," Sarah whispered softly as the goblins fell back from Noah and the rest of her 'rescuers'.

Noah tugged her firmly away from Jareth - _her father_ - and toward her Father, Daddy, and Sarah. She couldn't focus on the three adults who were fussing over her, her eyes locked firmly on her hand wrapped up in Noah's larger one.

"You came for me," she whispered, looking up at him.

"Of course I did," Noah cleared his throat, pasting a hollow smirk on his lips. "Us Jews gotta stick together."

"Thank you."


End file.
